Department for Transport

Transport: Weather

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost to the economy of disruption to travel as a result of snowfall in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones: The Department has not made any such estimate as a result of snowfall in the last 12 months, however, the Department commissioned a review of the resilience of the UK transport networks in the face of extreme snow conditions in 2010.‘The Resilience of England’s Transport Systems in Winter’ estimated the welfare cost of domestic transport disruption from severe winter weather was around £280 million per day in England. The direct economic costs alone amount to £130 million per day.The transport sectors have taken steps to implement the lessons from those severe winters and to implement the recommendations from the review. For example, on the rail network additional specialised snow and ice clearing trains have been procured, and on the third rail network south of the Thames heating elements have been installed at critical locations to prevent the third rail from icing up. In terms of aviation readiness, since 2009/2010 Heathrow has invested £36m, and Gatwick £15m, in winter operational readiness. In a survey conducted by the Department in mid-November 2015, total salt stocks being held for use on the roads, including emergency salt reserve (salt of last resort) is approximately 2.2 million tonnes. The findings of this survey highlight that local highway authorities are holding robust salt stocks, have been replenishing their stocks and have entered this winter season in a resilient position.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what campaigns he plans to implement over the Christmas period in 2015 to draw public attention to the dangers of drinking and driving.

Andrew Jones: On 1st December the Department for Transport’s THINK! campaign will launch a new Drink Drive campaign in England and Wales. The campaign will use paid-for advertising (including TV and radio) alongside social media and PR activities. We are also working with commercial partners including Coca-Cola, Johnnie Walker and Budweiser who provide incentives to help drivers make the right choice not to drink and drive.Targeted at men aged 17-34, the campaign aims to contribute to a reduction in the number of people killed and seriously injured as a result of drink driving by highlighting the potential danger of driving after drinking lower levels of alcohol. The campaign also aims to maintain the social unacceptability of drink driving amongst a wider ‘all adult’ audience who will see some of the advertising.

Large Goods Vehicles: Taxation

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will ring-fence revenue raised from the HGV Levy for investment in transport infrastructure.

Andrew Jones: The HGV Levy was introduced in 2014 to ensure that all HGVs using UK roads make a payment reflecting the damage they cause to the roads. This removes some of the inequality for UK hauliers when paying to use many roads abroad. In its first year of operation the HGV Levy raised more than £46 million from foreignHGVs. Receipts raised by the HGV Levy are paid into the Consolidated Fund.As announced in the 2015 Spending Review on 25 November, this Government is making the biggest investment in transport infrastructure in generations. The government will invest £61 billion in transport this Parliament an increase of £20 billion compared to the previous parliament. This funding includes over £15 billion to improve, repair and expand our roads, covering the period from 2015/16 to 2020/21, and involves 127 major schemes.

Cycling and Walking: Finance

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will ring-fence funding for walking and cycling.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Government is committed to the principle of devolution and decisions being made at the appropriate level. Local Authorities are responsible for local roads and are best placed to determine the need for cycling and walking infrastructure in their own areas. By not ring-fencing funding for cycling and walking, local authorities have the freedom and flexibility to choose how they spend their transport funding, including on cycling and walking, if they choose to do so. However, for spending for which the Government is responsible, in the five years 2011/12 to 2015/16 the Department has increased its spend on cycling in England from £1 per head to £3 per head, and more in the eight Cycle Ambition Cities.

Bus Services: Standards

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the traffic commissioners in enforcing bus service reliability and punctuality.

Andrew Jones: The Department for Transport has regular discussions with the Senior Traffic Commissioner and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (who provide evidence to the Traffic Commissioners on bus punctuality) on bus punctuality enforcement issues. I am pleased to note that in England 83% of non-frequent bus services ran on time in 2014/15 compared to 80% in 2009/10.

Bus Services: Standards

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the trends in the number of bus reliability public inquiries held by the traffic commissioners since 2010.

Andrew Jones: No assessment has been made of the trends in the number of public inquiries held by the Traffic Commissioners into bus punctuality since 2010.

Driving: Regulation

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress the traffic commissioners have made on reviewing and modernising the regulation of commercial vehicle drivers.

Andrew Jones: The Senior Traffic Commissioner has reviewed and redrafted a number of Statutory Guidance Documents (SGDs) including SGD6 on Vocational Driver Conduct. This reviewed guidance was publically consulted on in July 2015 and the responses published in October. As stated in the Traffic Commissioners Strategic Objectivesdocument these guidance documents will be published before the end of this calendar year.

Parking: Appeals

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring forward proposals to amend the Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions (England) Representations and Appeals Regulations 2007 to enable the adjudicator to make an order awarding costs and expenses to appellants in successful parking appeals; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones: Under current regulations the adjudicator may make an order awarding costs and expenses against an enforcement authority where the adjudicator considers that the disputed decision was wholly unreasonable. The adjudicator may also award costs and expenses against either party where that party has acted frivolously or vexatiously or where their conduct in making, pursuing or resisting an appeal was wholly unreasonable. The Government has no plans to change this arrangement.

Vehicle and Operator Services Agency: Shrewsbury

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what timetable he has set for the sale of the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency testing station in Ennerdale Road, Shrewsbury.

Andrew Jones: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA's) heavy goods vehicle testing station in Ennerdale Road, Shrewsbury is a fully operational site. As part of its testing transformation programme, DVSA anticipate that the site will cease testing and close by 2019, at the latest. However, DVSA does not currently have a timetable for the closure and subsequent disposal of the site.

Immobilisation of Vehicles

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many cars the DVLA clamped in each month of each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones: Andrew JonesThe table below shows the information requested.201020112012201320142015 January9,0238,3705,1315,1975,6968,890February10,89210,5504,9475,3915,1158,741March12,7229,5175,3565,4505,3338,630April8,9788,9114,6365,8025,2148,228May8,8878,2655,0655,4505,5498,511June8,7908,2174,3394,9685,5309,957July8,9707,3655,2574,2385,63410,554August8,8837,9474,6442,0795,3848,050September8,5627,4724,5253,9185,5309,444October9,4355,5334,2754,5765,8069,778November9,8732,8284,3494,7915,756December7,5874,5071,8704,2836,740Total112,60289,48254,39456,14367,28790,783 By way of context, the equivalent total figure for 2009 is 123,695 cars.These vehicles would have been clamped by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s national wheelclamping contractors or by local authorities and police forces with devolved powers to clamp and impound unlicensed vehicles.

Railways: South West

Johnny Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make contingency plans for delivery by bodies other than Network Rail of Control Period 5 projects that the Hendy Review determines to be undeliverable and which are necessary in order to realise the full benefit of the introduction of AT300 trains to the South West peninsula.

Claire Perry: As Sir Peter Hendy’s report to the Secretary of State on the 25 November 2015 on the replanning of the CP5 Investment Programme made clear, the Cornwall Capacity Enabling Scheme, which will enable the delivery of the introduction of AT300 trains to the South West peninsula, will be delivered within CP5.

London Airports

Mr Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent comparative assessment he has made of the cost to the public purse of expanding (a) Heathrow and (b) Gatwick airports.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Government is currently considering the large amount of very detailed analysis contained in the Airports Commission’s final report before taking any decisions on next steps.The Government will carefully consider all the evidence set out, including that on costs, when making a decision on additional runway capacity.

Public Transport: Greater London

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many assaults there have been on staff working for (a) London Underground, (b) London Overground, (c) London buses, (d) Docklands Light Railway and (e) Tramlink in each year between 2010 and 2014.

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many assaults there have been on staff working for (a) London Underground, (b) London Overground, (c) London buses, (d) Docklands Light Railway and (e) Tramlink in October of each year between 2010 and 2015.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Department for Transport does not collect this information.However, I am able to say that the British Transport Police will shortly be launching Project Servator, which aims to detect and deter crime on the railways. It deploys highly visible and unpredictable police patrols to prevent a range of criminal activity, from pickpocketing and theft to more serious crimes including terrorism.

Thameslink Railway Line: Tickets

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to paragraph 2.82, page 94 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what progress his Department has made on introducing flexible season tickets on the Govia Thameslink Railway franchise.

Claire Perry: The introduction and roll-out of part-time season tickets will give people who commute part-time a better deal than they currently have access to. We have challenged the rail industry to develop proposals for pricing and delivering more flexible season tickets for those who work or commute part-time which could also attract new customers onto the railway.Progress on delivery of more flexible tickets is beginning to be made. Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) have a franchise commitment to introduce carnet style tickets on their smartcards which is subject to the Secretary of State’s approval.A number of costed options are being reviewed and a pilot programme has been developed, benefitting from and delivering the Key smart ticketing capability, this is expected to be introduced in May 2016.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Refuges

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what work his Department is undertaking with local authorities to ensure that (a) provision of women's refuges is increased to meet greater demand and (b) such refuges provide residents with the support they need.

Mr Marcus Jones: We are committed to ensuring that no victim of domestic abuse is turned away from the support they need. That is why in the Summer Budget we launched a £3 million fund to increase provision of safe accommodation with specialist support, including refuges, and to provide services to help victims access this support. The recent Spending Review announced a new dedicated, long term fund of £40 million over the next four years offering support to victims of domestic abuse. This increased funding complements the Government's wider approach and support for Violence Against Women and Girls services, which will be set out in the forthcoming refresh of this strategy.

Local Government: Pensions

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will amend the Local Government Pension Scheme to permit boycott, divestment and sanctions policies; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones: We will issue guidance to local government pension scheme administering authorities in the spring on how their policies on environmental, social and corporate governance matters should reflect foreign policy and related issues. This will make clear that their predominant concern should be the pursuit of their financial return on investments and that they should not pursue boycott, divestment and sanctions policies unless they are consistent with UK foreign policy.

Homelessness

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when the ministerial working group on preventing and tackling homelessness will next meet; and what the membership of that group is.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Ministerial Working Group on Homelessness will meet in the New Year. The group consists of Ministers from ten Departments – Ministry of Justice, Department for Education, Department of Health, Department for Work and Pensions, Cabinet Office, Ministry of Defence, Home Office, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Government Equalities Office, and Department for Communities and Local Government.

Sussex Police: Finance

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will place in the Library copies of the (a) labour and (b) materials data used to calculate the area cost adjustment factor element of the Sussex Police grant.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Area Cost Adjustment data referred to in the Police Grant Report (England and Wales) 2015/16 is that used for the 2013-14 Local Government Finance Settlement.The main data used for the labour cost element are anonymised personal records from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Any release is governed by the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and is the responsibility of the Office for National Statistics.The main sources of data used for the rates cost element come from Valuation Office Agency estimates for offices. This data is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/business-floorspace-experimental-statistics

Homelessness

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans he has for the future of the homelessness prevention grant.

Mr Marcus Jones: Decisions around locally funded services will be set out in the provisional Local Government Settlement, which we intend to announce before recess.

Social Rented Housing: Finance

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much funding the Government plans to make available (a) to housing associations, (b) to local authorities and (c) in total in each of the next four years to build social rented housing.

Brandon Lewis: Through the Spending Review the Government has committed to investing £8 billion to deliver over 400,000 affordable housing starts doubling our investment in affordable housing from 2018-19.This funding includes £1.7 billion for around 100,000 homes for affordable or intermediate rent, which will be delivered by 2021.Since April 2010 we have delivered over 260,000 affordable homes. Under Labour the stock of affordable homes fell by 420,000, with 1.8 million families on social housing waiting lists. More council housing has been built since 2010 than in the previous 13 years of a Labour Government.The Government does not publish annual delivery targets for the affordable housing programme.

Social Rented Housing: Construction

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of social rented homes that will be completed in (a) 2015-16 and (b) each of the succeeding four years.

Brandon Lewis: Through the Spending Review the Government has committed to investing £8 billion to deliver over 400,000 affordable housing starts, doubling our investment in affordable housing from 2018-19.This includes £1.7 billion to deliver around 100,000 homes for affordable or intermediate rent. Already through the 2015-18 Affordable Homes programme we have allocated over £1 billion to deliver affordable housing, with the majority being for rented housing.Since April 2010 we have delivered over 260,000 affordable homes. Under Labour the stock of affordable homes fell by 420,000, with 1.8 million families on social housing waiting lists. More council housing has been built since 2010 than in the previous 13 years of a Labour Government.The funding allocated to housing associations and local authorities will depend on the bids submitted to the Affordable Homes programme.

Social Rented Housing

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many new social rented homes he plans will be funded by the resources identified for housing in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

Brandon Lewis: Through the Spending Review the Government has committed to investing £8 billion to deliver over 400,000 affordable housing starts, doubling our investment from 2018-19.This funding includes £1.7 billion for around 100,000 homes for affordable or intermediate rent, which will be delivered between 2015 and 2021.

Housing: Construction

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many new homes of each type of tenure he plans will be funded by measures announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

Brandon Lewis: The Spending Review and Autumn Statement made last week reaffirmed this Government’s commitment to keeping the country building, to delivering the homes communities want and supporting hard-working people who aspire to own their own home to be able to do so.Over £20 billion was secured for housing from the Spending Review. This includes £8 billion to deliver over 400,000 affordable starts, and a further £12 billion of housing investment which will support our 1 million homes ambition by 2020/21.The Spending Review package announced last week supports a variety of tenures, including affordable homes for rent, shared ownership schemes and starter homes. It also supports home ownership through supporting custom build, the extension of Help to Buy, and extending the Right to Buy to tenants of housing associations.Precise splits between differing types of tenure will depend on the nature and quality of bids recieved for new funding programmes, and on the type of sites coming forward.

Government Property Unit: Staff

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many people are employed in the Property Asset Management Unit; and how many such people are (a) civil servants and (b) secondees from outside bodies.

Brandon Lewis: The Department for Communities and Local Government does not employ any civil servants, or secondees from outside bodies within the Property Asset Management Unit.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Norfolk Island

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will urge his Australian counterparts, on the grounds of the right to democratic self determination, to return Norfolk Island to its previous system of self-government.

Mr Hugo Swire: Governance of Norfolk Island is a matter for Australia, in consultation with Norfolk Islanders. I am confident that Australia’s respect for democratic self-determination is undimmed: before introducing recent reforms, it ran a full consultation process, which included a number of public hearings with Islanders, and have committed to retaining a local regional council with responsibility for local services and with powers to legislate on local issues.

Syria: Military Intervention

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications of UN Security Council Resolution 2249 (2015) for the legality of airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: There is a clear legal basis for further military action against ISIL in Syria. The legal basis of the Coalition’s activity against ISIL in Syria has been, and continues to be, the inherent right of self-defence recognised in Article 51 of the UN Charter. The legality of potential UK strikes against ISIL in Syria would also be based on the right of self-defence. The right of self defence may be exercised individually where it is necessary for the UK’s own defence, and collectively in the defence of our friends and allies.UN Security Council Resolution 2249 provides clear and unanimous political endorsement by the international community for the military action being taken by the Coalition.

Israel: Palestinians

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Israeli government on the prevention of attacks by Palestinians on Israelis.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We are deeply concerned by the recent violence across the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel. We have had a number of discussions about this matter with the Israeli authorities over recent weeks. On 19 November, our Ambassador to Tel Aviv discussed the ongoing violence with Gilad Erdan, the Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs, Public Security and Information. On 24 November, I raised this issue with the Israeli Chargé d’Affaires and officials from Israel’s Ministry of Defence.

Afghanistan: Offences against Children

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Afghan government on sexual abuse of and physical attacks on young boys and girls in Afghanistan.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK continues to raise this issue both with the Government of Afghanistan and in multilateral fora. We welcome the Government of Afghanistan’s public commitment of support for human rights and eliminating violence against women and girls, most recently at the September 2015 Senior Officials Meeting in Kabul.Through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Human Rights and Democracy Programme Fund almost £400,000 has been allocated to address the psychological needs of victims of sexual harassment and violence; support state institutions to improve their response to victims; and raise awareness of the threats.We are also funding the United Nations Population Fund in Afghanistan (UNFPA) to provide family protection units, which will include psychological aftercare for survivors of sexual violence. This complements the Department for International Development’s work to strengthen access to justice for survivors of violence.Afghanistan is one of six focus countries for the UK’s National Action Plan for Women, Peace and Security, for which there is a joint implementation plan across FCO, MOD, and DFID. We have also been involved and continue to support the Afghan National Action and Implementation plan.

Ashraf Fayadh

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Saudi Arabian counterpart calling for the release of Mr Ashraf Fayadh who was sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia on 17 November 2015 on charges of apostasy.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We are aware of, and concerned about, the case of Mr Ashraf Fayadh (who is Palestinian). We oppose the death penalty in all circumstances and strongly support freedom of expression in every country. We regularly make the Saudi Arabian authorities aware of our views, and will consider suitable opportunities for raising our concerns over this case.

Yemen: Humanitarian Aid

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2015 to Question 10566, what recent steps he has taken to encourage all parties in the conflict in Yemen to allow freedom of access for humanitarian and commercial supplies.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: During his visit to Saudi Arabia on 28 October, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) made clear the need for all sides to take all reasonable steps to facilitate access for humanitarian aid, and the importance of the non-politicisation of aid, as well as the need to facilitate access for commercial goods. We welcome the commitments of the Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister and Yemeni President Hadi in recent weeks that all of Yemen’s ports are open and that commercial ships, including fuel tankers, are now arriving in Yemeni ports, including Hodeidah. We are using diplomatic channels to urge the Saudi and Yemeni Governments to ensure commercial access is sustained. The Foreign Secretary and the Secretary of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Justine Greening) have expressed the UK’s readiness to support the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM) and DFID has committed £1.4 million to the UN to support its establishment.

Pakistan: Christianity

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Pakistani counterpart on the persecution of Christians in that country.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We remain concerned about the persecution of religious and other minorities in Pakistan, including Christians. In August, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) raised religious freedom and human rights with Interior Minister Nisar. In June, I conveyed our concern about minorities in Pakistan to the Pakistani High Commissioner to the UK.We will continue to urge the Government of Pakistan to meet its international obligations to uphold the human rights of all its citizens. Our concerns about minorities in Pakistan are documented in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office annual Human Rights Report.

Pakistan: Forced Marriage

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Pakistani counterpart on the reported abduction of girls for arranged marriages in that country.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We are seriously concerned about reports of abduction of girls for forced marriage in Pakistan. It is the responsibility of the Government of Pakistan to ensure it guarantees the rights of all its citizens, regardless of their gender, faith or ethnicity. We raise the issues of women’s rights and religious freedom on a regular basis at a senior level with the authorities in Pakistan and press for greater protection of all citizens' rights. The Girl Summit, hosted by the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), in July 2014, included a commitment to end child, early and forced marriage.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: On 4 November the The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Philip Hammond) and I met President Khoja and other representatives of the Syrian National Coalition of Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (National Coalition) in London. We discussed the urgent need for political transition in Syria as the only way to solve the conflict and defeat ISIL. We were clear that Assad has no place in Syria’s future and that the new political process in Vienna offers the opportunity to make progress towards Syrian-led negotiations. The National Coalition expressed their readiness to reach out to other moderate political and armed groups in Syria and agreed that the opposition negotiating team must be able to speak for the Syrian people. The UK’s special representative for Syria maintains regular contact with the National Coalition. The UK will continue to work with the National Coalition and our international partners in pursuit of a political solution to the Syrian conflict.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the role of the Free Syrian Army in the conflict in Syria.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Free Syrian Army is a collective term used by a range of moderate opposition groups in Syria who are fighting the regime and ISIL. The Free Syrian Army call for a pluralistic system that respects the rights of all Syrians. They reject terrorism and terrorist tactics, and have condemned Islamic extremism. They have been fighting both the regime and ISIL in Syria for over two years with success in a number of areas, in particular in Idlib and Aleppo in Northwest Syria and in Dera'a Province in the South.

Nuclear Weapons

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to paragraph 4.79 of the National Security Strategy and the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, what steps the Government has taken since 2010 to achieve the long-term goal of a world without nuclear weapons; and what initiatives the Government has taken to date to work with the UK's international partners to tackle proliferation and to make progress on multilateral nuclear disarmament.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK National Report submitted in February in advance of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference set out steps we have taken to support the goal of a world without nuclear weapons. This includes support to the international monitoring system designed to detect nuclear tests, efforts to build trust and confidence with other Nuclear Weapon States through the P5 process, and initiatives with Norway and the US on how to verify disarmament of nuclear weapons. We have also met our commitment to reduce the number of operationally available warheads to no more than 120. We have worked to strengthen the international non-proliferation regime, most notably through our role in securing an agreement involving strict limits and inspections on Iran's nuclear programme.

Falkland Islands

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has received from the government of Argentina on the status of the Falkland Islands.

Mr Hugo Swire: I have received no such recent representations from the Argentine government.

Middle East: Christianity

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2015 to Question 2798, what recent steps he has taken to support Christians who are being persecuted in Middle Eastern countries.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Government remains deeply concerned about the plight of Christians and other minorities across the Middle East and North Africa. We continue to urge all governments in the region to ensure the protection of all minorities and encourage them to develop inclusive political systems that represent all of their citizens. In Iraq, Syria and Lebanon we are working with religious leaders to support inter-communal cohesion and ensure vulnerable communities have a voice. We have recently launched a project promoting legal and social protection for Freedom of Religion or Belief in Iraq. On 19 November, The Minister of State, my noble Friend the right hon. Baroness Anelay of St Johns and I convened a workshop at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office with Non-Governmental Organisations and experts in the field to examine what more Her Majesty's Government might do to practically support Christians and other minorities in the Middle East and protect Freedom of Religion or Belief. Officials are now examining how we might put emerging ideas into practice.

Yemen: Human Rights

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, for what reasons the UK did not support a draft UN resolution calling for an international inquiry into human rights abuses by all parties in the Yemen conflict.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: A Resolution on the Human Rights situation in Yemen was agreed at the last session of the Human Rights Council on 2 October. The UK’s priority was to secure cross-regional agreement on a text that would strengthen human rights in Yemen as we urge all parties to find a solution to the crisis. The Human Rights Council does not have a mandate to call for investigations in to International Humanitarian Law. The consensual UN resolution agreed has tasked the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to help Yemen investigate human rights abuses and violations. The UK supports the UN resolution as it reflects the current human rights situation and makes constructive recommendations to strengthen human rights in Yemen.

Sierra Leone: Ebola

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the effectiveness of Government's response to the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone.

James Duddridge: The UK intervention in Sierra Leone was instrumental in containing the Ebola epidemic and preventing the dire predictions from global health bodies materialising. Now that Sierra Leone has been declared Ebola transmission-free, our focus is to help the Government to develop a new approach to the delivery of services that will improve resilience and enable the country to handle future crises independently, whether they be health-related or caused by other factors.

Diplomatic Service

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department plans to spend on specialist kidnap negotiation and hostage rescue capabilities in British consulates in the next 12 months.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Government’s response to overseas hostage taking brings together skills and capabilities across a range of Departments. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is the lead Department where British nationals are kidnapped by a terrorist group. Expenditure can be dependent on factors including the number of incidents. In the current Financial Year the FCO will spend around £253,000 on specialist hostage negotiation capability, and on training for the staff in the FCO and our global network who coordinate the Government’s response to the kidnap of British nationals overseas. This training programme ensures our overseas network is prepared to respond effectively when British nationals are taken hostage by terrorists. The FCO's exact expenditure on kidnap response in the year ahead will depend in part on the number of live cases, but is likely to be of a similar magnitude.

BBC World Service: Finance

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what funding his Department has provided to the BBC World Service in each year since 2010.

Mr David Lidington: In each year from 2010 the department provided the following funding to the BBC World Service: 2009/2010 – £268,043,000 2010/2011 – £268,523,000 2011/2012 – £255,200,000 2012/2013 – £244,200,000 2013/2014 – £238,480,000

Diplomatic Service

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the size of his Department's Rapid Deployment Teams in terms of personnel was in each year since 2010.

James Duddridge: The Foreign & Commonwealth Office Rapid Deployment Teams are a volunteer cadre of Foreign & Commonwealth Office staff trained to be deployed to augment crisis response overseas. Since 2010 we have had Rapid Deployment Teams based in London, Asia Pacific and the Americas. A fourth Rapid Deployment Team covering the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA) was introduced in 2012. In total, we have 185 active members of the Rapid Deployment Team globally consisting of 64 in London, 36 in Asia Pacific, 48 in the Americas and 37 in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia area. On call each week we have 12 London-based staff, 8 Middle East, North Africa and South Asia based staff, 10 Asia Pacific based staff and 11 Americas-based staff. These can be supplemented by additional specialists from the military, Police or British Red Cross. Around 72 new Rapid Deployment Team volunteers are trained each year.

Diplomatic Service

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department has spent on Rapid Deployment Teams in each year since 2010.

James Duddridge: The running costs, including recruiting, training and exercising the four global Rapid Deployment Team cadres were £633,735 in FY 2011/12, £626,466 in FY 2012/13, £720,731 in FY 2013/14 and £578,832 in FY 2014/15. We have spent £397,913 in FY 2015/16 to date. Due to the introduction of a new financial accounting system in 2010, figures for 2010/11 are not readily available.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Tourism: Advertising

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will publish the television advertising schedule and list the television channels being used for the Great Britain campaign; and if he will estimate the cost of (a) producing the commercials for that campaign and (b) each television advertising slot by time and date of broadcast.

Anna Soubry: The commercials are being shown on a wide variety of channels to reach the broadest spread of British businesses, including ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and satellite channels. Individual advertising spots are confirmed with broadcasters a few days prior to broadcast. The average cost of producing a commercial is £48,000 and to date 18 have been produced.

Fossil Fuels: Egypt

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent support the Government has provided to Egypt for oil and shale gas development.

Anna Soubry: We are not aware of any support given by the Government to the Egyptian authorities for oil and shale gas development.

Overseas Trade: Israel

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the value of trade was between the UK and Israel in each of the last five years.

Anna Soubry: This information can be found in the United Kingdom Balance of Payments - The Pink Book 2015 which can be found on the ONS website.

Manufacturing Industries: Employment

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent steps he has taken to prevent the loss of UK manufacturing sector jobs.

Anna Soubry: The best way the Government can support manufacturing jobs is to continue to secure a strong, growing economy. The Government continues to invest in our world leading aerospace, automotive, defence, energy and transport sectors that will secure high quality manufacturing jobs.Around a third of the 2,000 new inward Foreign Direct Investment projects in 2014/15 were in the areas of advanced manufacturing and life sciences and I was pleased to see that UK manufacturing PMI hit its highest level in over a year in October.

Postgraduate Education

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the timescale is for the availability of postgraduate masters degree loans as announced in the Autumn Statement 2014; and whether he plans to extend the loans policy to postgraduate research masters and doctoral research.

Joseph Johnson: The Government is committed to enhancing its support for postgraduate study and wants more people to have the opportunity to build on their academic success through access to a higher level qualification. The Government has now announced that a Master’s loan will be available to individuals up to age 60 from 2016/17. It also set out details of the next steps to provide more support for Doctoral study.Further information is available via the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/postgraduate-study-student-loans-and-other-support

Foreign Investment in UK

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many (a) foreign direct investment projects were developed in the UK which originated from other EU countries in (i) 2012-13, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15, (b) jobs were created by those projects and (c) jobs were safeguarded by those projects.

Anna Soubry: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 26 November 2015.The correct answer should have been:

Below is a breakdown of all successful foreign direct investment projects from EU countries in 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 together with the estimated number of jobs created and safeguarded, as recorded by UK Trade & Investment.Number of Inward FDI Projects originating from EU recorded by UKTIProjectsNew JobsSafeguarded jobs2012-1348515,05334,8242013-1454119,93322,7122014-1563426,8456,076ProjectsNew JobsSafeguarded jobs2012-1350415,39935,0732013-1456420,43222,8052014-1565828,2506,686Source: UKTI FDI projects database.

Anna Soubry: Below is a breakdown of all successful foreign direct investment projects from EU countries in 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 together with the estimated number of jobs created and safeguarded, as recorded by UK Trade & Investment.Number of Inward FDI Projects originating from EU recorded by UKTIProjectsNew JobsSafeguarded jobs2012-1348515,05334,8242013-1454119,93322,7122014-1563426,8456,076ProjectsNew JobsSafeguarded jobs2012-1350415,39935,0732013-1456420,43222,8052014-1565828,2506,686Source: UKTI FDI projects database.

Business: North Korea

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the Government plans to hold or collect any information on the number of UK businesses operating in or contracting with the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea.

Anna Soubry: The Government does not maintain a database of UK businesses operating in or contracting with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.Data on the value of trade between UK businesses and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is published by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). Information on the number of UK businesses exporting goods to, and importing goods from, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea are collected by HMRC. Specific information relating to individual businesses cannot be published due to legislation protecting business confidentiality and in line with statistical disclosure control.

Biofuels: Plastics

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to promote the development of a bio-plastics industry within a UK circular economy; and what the implications for his policy are of the effect of the EU's Europe 2020 programme in supporting that sector at a regional level.

Joseph Johnson: The Government recognises the potential for the bio-plastics sector to contribute to a circular economy. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is engaged with a range of businesses in the bio plastic industry including via the Bio-based and Biodegradable Industries Association and is working to help promote the potential growth of that sector. The EU 2020 strategy and the funding programmes that support that initiative offer opportunities for the UK. BIS is actively promoting and facilitating engagement and participation in the Horizon 2020 Programme via the Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN).

Biofuels: Plastics

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the finding in the report, The future potential economic impacts of a bio-plastics industry in the UK, published by the Bio-based and Biodegradable Industries Association in October 2015, that, given the correct legislative environment, a UK bioplastics industry could support 35,000 jobs and contribute £1.9 billion to the economy.

Joseph Johnson: I note the report by the Bio-based and Biodegradable Industries Association into the future potential impacts of a bio-plastics industry in the UK.The Government delivers a range of policies across the business landscape – including research funding and innovation - that will be helpful in supporting the development of this sector. At the recent Autumn Statement, it was confirmed that science funding of £4.7 billion will be protected in real terms over the Parliament, and we will protect the Catapult network to support innovative firms and sectors.

Universities: Admissions

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of universities make unconditional offers to 18 year olds applying to study at those universities; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: The information is not held centrally.

Apprentices: Standards

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, when he plans for the new business-led body to set standards for apprenticeships as announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 to come into operation.

Nick Boles: It is our intention that the Institute for Apprenticeships will be fully operational by April 2017 and we expect it to begin operating in shadow form during 2016, taking on functions in a phased transition.

Students: Grants

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what consultation his Department carried out with (a) students and their representative bodies and (b) other people and bodies before announcing that university maintenance grants would be abolished.

Joseph Johnson: I refer the Hon Member to my reply to the hon Member for Newport West to question UIN 11271.

Students: Grants

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, on what timetable he plans to abolish university maintenance grants, including the timetable for laying associated regulations.

Joseph Johnson: New students starting full-time courses from 1 August 2016 onwards who would otherwise have received a grant will qualify for an increased loan for living costs. The total living costs support available in 2016/17 under the new student support arrangements for eligible students on the lowest incomes is increasing by 10.3% when compared with 2015/16.The Government expects to lay amendments to the Student Support Regulations covering student support for 2016/17 shortly.

Students: Finance

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of replacing maintenance grants with loans on students from faith backgrounds which discourage the accrual of interest.

Joseph Johnson: The Government expects to publish an Equality Analysis of the changes to student support for the 2016/17 academic year alongside the regulations.

Department for International Development

Developing Countries: Sanitation

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support her Department is giving to strengthening water, sanitation and hygiene services in countries affected by Ebola.

Mr Nick Hurd: Prior to, during and following the Ebola outbreak, DFID has provided funding and technical assistance to increase access to water, sanitation services and hygiene education (WASH) in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Between 2012-2016, DFID has committed through our country programmes up to £71.3m for WASH programmes in Sierra Leone and £4.75m for Liberia. We have no bilateral programme in Guinea.During the Ebola outbreak our existing WASH programmes were adapted to help Sierra Leone and Liberia respond to the crisis. The above figure includes DFID assistance to improve water and sanitation facilities in schools and health facilities as part of our support to the post-Ebola recovery.The President of Sierra Leone has identified water as one of his top six priorities for the post Ebola recovery period. DFID has committed to support delivery of this agenda and we are working with them to define high quality programmes that will increase access to clean water.

Department for Education

Offences against Children

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that schools provide support and guidance to pupils who are victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse.

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to raise awareness among pupils of forced marriage and domestic violence.

Edward Timpson: Schools play an important role in safeguarding children from all forms of abuse. Our statutory guidance is clear that schools have an important role in identifying children who may be suffering abuse, or at risk of abuse, and then take necessary action, working with other services where appropriate. Schools also have an important role in raising pupils’ awareness of these issues, thus helping pupils to keep themselves safe.The Department for Education has produced statutory guidance for schools, ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’, which sets out the roles and responsibilities of schools and their staff, and which contains links to more detailed advice on specific forms of abuse, including domestic violence, teenage relationship abuse and forced marriage.Schools can use relevant parts of the curriculum, including sex and relationship education and personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE), to raise pupils’ awareness. It is for schools to determine which issues they address and how, and the Government’s statutory guidance on sex and relationship education makes clear that schools should ensure that young people develop positive values and a moral framework that will guide their decisions, judgements and behaviour. To complement work done in schools, the Government’s ‘This is Abuse’ campaign has helped to educate young people about damaging behaviours within relationships.

Free Schools

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2015 to Question 15557, on what date her Department plans to publish updated information on free school projects that opened or were withdrawn or cancelled.

Edward Timpson: We intend to publish updated expenditure for free school projects in early 2016.

Mental Health Services: Children in Care

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the (a) quantity and (b) quality of mental health services available to children and young people in the care system.

Edward Timpson: The Ofsted Single Inspection Framework provides the basis for the inspection of services for children in need of help and protection, looked-after children, and care leavers in England. The Framework includes judgments on whether child and adolescent mental health services are available when needed. The evidence from inspection reports indicates that local provision to meet the mental health needs of looked-after children is variable.In May 2015, NHS England asked all Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) to work with other local agencies to develop Local Transformation Plans (LTPs) for children’s mental health services. LTPs are expected to cover the full spectrum of mental health issues and address the needs of the most vulnerable children and young people, including looked-after children and care leavers. All CCGs have now submitted plans and these are currently being assured by NHS England. The plans will be published once that assurance process is complete and, taken together, will provide a comprehensive picture of how mental health services for looked-after children are being improved across the country.

Department for Education: Public Expenditure

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what modelling her Department has undertaken of the potential effect of freezing her Department's budget in cash terms on (a) educational outcomes and (b) pupil wellbeing.

Mr Sam Gyimah: We are protecting the schools budget in real terms, as we pledged in our manifesto. Throughout this Parliament, the amount of money for our schools will increase as pupil numbers rise. In 2015-16 we increased funding for the 69 least well-funded local authorities by £390 million, and that increased level of funding will be included in the baseline for future years. We will go further to target funding effectively, and end historic unfairness in the system, by introducing a national funding formula. We will provide every school with a fair allocation matched to need, that allows them to continue driving up educational standards and support every child to achieve to the best of their potential, whatever their background and wherever they live.

Children in Care

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to enable more looked-after children to go on to further and higher education.

Edward Timpson: This government believes that all children and young people in care should be provided with the support that they need in order to fulfil their potential.That is why we require local authorities, as corporate parents,to fulfil a legal duty to promote the educational achievement of the children they look after, including supporting them to progress into further and higher education.All local authorities are required to appoint a Virtual School Head to ensure that that duty is discharged, and that each looked-after child has a personal education plan which sets out how their aspirations and educational needs, particularly around transition points, will be supported in the short and longer-term.In addition, the government provides enhanced pupil premium funding of £1,900 each year for pupils who have been looked-after and we also ensure that looked-after children are given priority in school admission arrangements. Looked-after children and care leavers are also a priority group for receiving the 16-19 Further Education Bursary of £1,200 per annum.For care leavers, local authorities must offer a personal adviser and a pathway plan if they are in education or training up to the age of 21 or up to 25 if they wish to resume their education and training. Care leavers who pursue a recognised course of higher education are also entitled to a one-off £2000 bursary, given by their local authority, as part of the package of support they receive on leaving care.

GCSE

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of 16 to 19 year old students studying GCSE mathematics and English in further education and sixth form colleges.

Nick Boles: The requested information for 16 to 19 year olds is not available. Information on 16 to 18 year olds students entered for GCSE English and/or maths, having not achieved a grade A* to C at the end of key stage 4, is published by institution type in the “Level 1 and 2 English and mathematics: 16 to 18 students - 2013 to 2014” statistical first release[1].[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/level-1-and-2-english-and-maths-16-to-18-students-2013-to-2014 (Tables 1 and 3)

University Technical Colleges

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the quality of education at university technical colleges.

Nick Boles: University technical colleges (UTCs) harness students’ talents, offering them technical learning alongside GCSEs and A levels, and providing them with knowledge and skills which employers value. The programme is still at an early stage. The best UTCs, such as UTC Reading, are providing excellent education, which is reflected in their exam results.

Free Schools

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children were (a) enrolled and (b) funded at each free school at the start of the 2015-16 academic year.

Edward Timpson: The number of pupils on roll for the academic year 2015/16 is not yet available.Each October, we publish the number of pre-16 pupils funded in schools which were open as of the start of that financial year. The data can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/466234/Annex_A_-_Schools_block_Allocations_data_file_2015-16.xlsx. Data for schools which opened after the start of the 2015-16 financial year is due to be published in October 2016.The number of post 16 pupils funded in each school for the academic year 2015/16 is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/468295/YP_FASS_Published_Allocation_Dataset_2015_to_2016-1.xlsx.

Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2015 to Question 13645, (a) how and (b) by whom each head teacher was selected to work with her Department on improving the provision of PSHE in schools; and if she will make a statement.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2015 to Question 13645, what the names of each head teacher and the school to which they belong are with whom her Department is currently working to improve the provision of PSHE in schools; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: The Department for Education regularly speaks to a wide range of head teachers, academy chief executives, teachers and subject associations. We invited a group of headteachers and PSHE practitioners to work with us on improving the quality of PSHE.These individuals were selected because of the high quality provision in their schools. The list of contributors will be known when the report is published.

Health Education: Alcoholic Drinks

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to educate children at schools about the health implications of excessive alcohol consumption.

Edward Timpson: Effective drug and alcohol education is essential in tackling the problem of drug and alcohol misuse.In the science curriculum, pupils should be taught to recognise the impact of diet, exercise, drugs and lifestyle on the way their bodies function at Key Stage 2. At Key Stage 3 pupils should be taught about the effects of recreational drugs (including substance misuse) on behaviour, health and life processes.In addition, schools have the autonomy to tailor their local Personal Social Health and Economic (PSHE) education programme to reflect the needs of their pupils, including teaching about alcohol consumption. Schools can draw on the resources and evidence provided by experts and use tools such as ADEPIS (Alcohol and Drug Education and Prevention Information Service). In March 2013 the department launched a new drug and alcohol information and advice service for practitioners. This provides practitioners and commissioners with accurate, up-to-date information and resources on what works and can be found at: http://mentor-adepis.org/

Mental Health Services: Children in Care

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing automatic mental health assessments by qualified professionals for all children upon entry into care.

Edward Timpson: Local authorities are responsible for making sure that a health assessment is carried out for every child they look after when they enter care. That includes an assessment of the child’s emotional and mental wellbeing as well as their physical health.Statutory guidance on Promoting the health and well-being of looked-after children (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/promoting-the-health-and-wellbeing-of-looked-after-children--2) states that those assessments should not be an isolated event but part of the dynamic and continuous cycle of care planning and integrated with any other assessments and plans. Local authorities should also ensure that the information from a Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire, completed by the main carer, informs the health assessment. Where that health assessment suggests that children may benefit from a more specialist assessment the local authority and health practitioner should make sure that it is carried out.

Special Educational Needs

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of the (a) level of provision of spaces in SEN schools and (b) rising number of children with SEN statements in mainstream schools on the educational rights and attainment of children with SEN.

Edward Timpson: Our vision for children with Special Educational Needs and disabilities (SEND) is the same as for all children and young people – that they thrive in their early years, at school and in college, and lead happy and fulfilled lives. We have made extensive changes to the SEND system to improve prospects for these students.The Children and Families Act 2014 secures the general presumption in law of mainstream education in relation to decisions about where children and young people with SEN should be educated and the Equality Act 2010 provides protection from discrimination for disabled people. The presumption of mainstream education is supported by provisions which safeguard the interests of all children and young people and ensure that the school preferences of the young person or their parents are met wherever possible.Local authorities must review the educational provision for children and young people with SEN and disabilities in their areas and whether this meets the needs of those concerned. The Department produces national projections for the number of pupils in England, which help inform local authority decision-making over school capacity. Local authorities have the freedom to choose to use some of their capital funding on new places in special schools where that is a local priority and we continue to welcome applications for new special free schools where there is a particular need or demand for new provision.The proportion of pupils with a statement of SEN or Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan has remained at 2.8% since 2007. There are 236,165 children with statements or EHC plans. Of those children with statements, 57% were in mainstream places in state-funded schools in January 2015. The proportion in special schools was 43% in January 2015.The educational attainment of pupils with SEND has generally been improving, but a significant gap remains between their attainment and that of those with no identified SEND. At Key Stage 2 for example, in National Curriculum assessments in 2014 38% of all pupils with SEN achieved the expected level in the combined reading, writing and mathematics measure in 2014, compared with 90% of pupils with no identified SEN, resulting in an attainment gap of 51 percentage points. This represented an improvement of 2 percentage points since 2013 (when the equivalent figures were 34% of pupils with SEN and 88% of those with no identified SEN). We will continue to support schools and local authorities in their efforts to support improvement of the attainment of those with SEND.

Teachers: Qualifications

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason the Final version of the Specification for Mandatory Qualifications for specialist teachers of children and young people who are deaf was revised between 6 and 13 October 2015.

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will revise the changes made to the Final version of the Specification for Mandatory Qualifications for specialist teachers of children and young people who are deaf between 6 and 13 October 2015.

Edward Timpson: Our aim is always to ensure that the Mandatory Qualifications (MQ) continue to be a high quality qualification that is flexible in its content and in its model of delivery in order to meet the needs of the sector.We work closely with the National Sensory Impairment Partnership (NatSIP) as representatives of the sector. We ran a consultation with the sector to make sure that the MQ remained current and reflected changes in policy. As a result of the consultation we made a number of changes to the MQ specification. We published the revised specification on 7 September 2015 on GOV.uk.After publication, we responded to advice from NatSIP and made a further amendment to the specification making it clearer that the specification reflects the minimum skills required to be a teacher of the deaf.We have no plans to make changes to the final version of the specification; we will keep the specification under review and continue to engage with the sector through NatSIP.

Voluntary Organisations: Grants

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish the findings of the independent review panel overseeing the VCS Transitions Grant Programme which made its report in February 2011.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what measures she has implemented in response to the recommendations of the review panel overseeing the VCS Transitions Grant Programme which made its report in February 2011.

Edward Timpson: The Independent Review Panel of the grant transition programme was commissioned in 2011. The aim of the Independent Review Panel was to inform advice put to the Secretary of State. We do not publish advice given to Ministers.The advice of the Independent ReviewPanel informed the allocation process of awarding grants to the Voluntary and Community Sector in 2011-13. A ‘lessons learned’ exercise has been part of each subsequent grants allocation round. Guidance regarding the allocation of grants is reviewed routinely to ensure that it is robust and fit for purpose.

Ministry of Justice

Prisoners: Suicide

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what (a) number of suicides took place and (b) what this number is as a proportion of the total by individuals who were not on the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork programme in prison in each year since 2010.

Andrew Selous: Every death in custody is a tragedy, and we are committed to reducing the number of self-inflicted deaths in prisons. Information on all deaths in prison custody can be found in the Safety in Custody statistics which are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/safety-in-custody-statistics. The National Offender Management Service records “self-inflicted deaths” rather than “suicides” as a category of incident, as the intention of the prisoner may not be known reliably. These statistics are published quarterly, and the most recent publication contains information on deaths in custody up to 30 September. The next set of statistics will be published on 28 January 2016.Prisoners identified as being at heightened risk of suicide or self-harm are cared for under the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) process. An individual ‘care map’ will be put in place and kept under review to make sure it remains suitable.The table below shows most recently published statistics for the number of self-inflicted deaths in each period since 2010, and the number and proportion of prisoners not on an open ACCT at the time of death.12 months endingSep 10Sep 11Sep 12Sep 13Sep 14Sep 15 Number of self-inflicted deaths605957649195 Not on an open ACCT464139426356Proportion not on an open ACCT77%69%68%66%69%59%Independent investigations into every death in custody are conducted by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, and, where applicable, the use of ACCT will be considered as part of these investigations. The reports are available at: www.ppo.gov.uk.

Prisoners: Gender Recognition

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many case conferences have resulted in the reallocation of transgender prisoners to a prison which corresponds with the gender with which they self-identify in the last five years.

Caroline Dinenage: This information is not held centrally and as my Honourable Friend, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation, committed to the House on 20 November, my Department will publish data on the number of trans people in prison in due course.

Prisoners: Gender Recognition

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many transgender prisoners received into prison in the last 12 months have been held in the segregation unit.

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners received into prison in the last 12 months were identified as transgender.

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many transgender prisoners received into prison in the last 12 months were placed in the vulnerable prisoner unit in the (a) male and (b) female estate.

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many transgender prisoners received into prison in the last 12 months were placed on the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork system.

Caroline Dinenage: This information is not held centrally. As my Honourable Friend, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Prisons, Probation and Rehabilitation, committed to the House on 20 November, my Department will publish data on the number of trans people in prison in due course.

Prime Minister

India: Religious Buildings

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Prime Minister, what discussions he had with his Indian counterpart during his recent visit on the death of Sikh people at the Golden Temple in Amritsar in June 1984.

Mr David Cameron: The events between 5-7 June 1984 at the Golden Temple in Amritsar led to a tragic loss of life, and I understand the pain that they still cause to Sikh communities around the world, including in the UK.During the visit of Prime Minister Modi we discussed a wide range of issues and in those conversations he emphasised his commitment to upholding the Gandhian traditions of diversity and religious tolerance. In his Wembley address, he underlined the important role that Indians of all faiths are playing in India’s economic and social development.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Prime Minister, what the evidential basis is for his estimate that there are about 70,000 Syrian opposition fighters on the ground who do not belong to extremist groups; whether he has shared that estimate with all coalition partners; whether that estimate is congruent with those supplied by other partner countries in the coalition; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to pages 18 and 19 of his response to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee's Second Report of Session 2015-16: The Extension of Offensive British Military Operation to Syria, published on 26 November 2015, what his assessment is of the capacity of the 70,000 Syrian opposition fighters referred to (a) taking territory from ISIL, (b) holding that territory and (c) administering it; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to oral statement of 26 November 2015, which main groups comprise the 70,000 moderate fighters in Syria he referred to in that statement; what estimate the Government has made of the number of fighters in each such group; and what the political and religious description is of each such group.

Mr David Cameron: We estimate that there are around 70,000 Syrian opposition fighters on the ground who do not belong to extremist groups, many of whom are linked to the Free Syrian Army. In addition to these 70,000, there are around 20,000 Kurdish fighters in Syria, who are also playing an important role in combating ISIL. The information we have on individual groups which forms the basis of this estimate is drawn in large part from intelligence. It would not be to the benefit of these non-extremist opposition fighters if we were to make it public to ISIL and the Syrian regime. We have very close intelligence relationships with a range of allies and partners, and share assessments with them as a matter of course.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Employment Agencies

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the cost of using external agencies for recruitment to Senior Civil Service posts in his Department in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Mr Edward Vaizey: As part of its long-term economic plan, this Government has reduced the size of the Civil Service by 22%, adjusting for Machinery of Government changes that moved staff into and out of the Civil Service since the 2010 General Election, representing a significant increase in efficiency and productivity that helped save taxpayers £2.8 billion last year alone.In the past five years, Department costs for using external agencies in the recruitment of two Senior Civil Service posts are recorded as below: Financial YearRecruitment Costs (£)2011/20122012/20132013/20142014/2015£33,019.002015/2016£26,300.00 Background InformationWe hold no records for years 2011/2012, 2012/2013, 2013/2014.The Department has used external agencies to recruit for specialist SCS roles. Departments have a number of routes available to them to procure recruitment agency services. These include their own departmental procurement processes and the Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS), which has been in place since April 2014.The roles recruited for were Chief Executive of BDUK and Deputy Director of Telecoms Business Intelligence Centre

Broadband

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the £10 million investment for better broadband infrastructure in the South West announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 is part of a larger investment programme; for what reasons the South West was chosen for the £10 million investment; and what funding will be made available by the Government for other regions.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Government has allocated £10 million to the South West broadband fund, commencing in April 2016. This fund extends the support already being provided through the superfast programme and will also stimulate the ultrafast market. The South West region has some of the most difficult topography in the UK for fixed broadband deployment and this fund will help provide coverage in challenging areas within the region. In addition, the Prime Minister recently announced the ambition to give people the legal right to request a connection to broadband with speeds of 10 Mbps, no matter where in the country they live.

Public Libraries: Opening Hours

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will estimate the proportion of libraries which have reduced their opening hours in the last five years; and what assessment he has made of the effect of such changes on (a) library users and (b) community groups who use library premises.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Each local authority is responsible for providing a comprehensive and efficient library service that meets the requirements of their communities, including consideration of opening hours.

Arts: Finance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of reduction to local government spending announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 on (a) local and (b) national arts and culture organisations.

Mr Edward Vaizey: TheSpending Review settlement puts national arts and culture organisations on a strong footing. It will ensure continued free access to national museums and galleries and allow them to pursue an ambitious agenda across this Parliament. As the Chancellor said in his Spending Review speech, "one of the best investments we can make as a nation is in our extraordinary arts, museums, heritage, media and sport".Forecast increases to other sources of income (including business rates and council tax) mean that local government spending is forecast to be higher in cash terms in 2019/20 than in 2015/16 . Local authorities understand the importance of investing in cultural activities in their areas, and are best placed to decide how to prioritise their spending.

Lord Coe

Damian Collins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much UK Sport spent in support of the campaign of Lord Coe becoming President of the IAAF on (a) fees to consultancies, (b) direct payments to Lord Coe's campaign team, (c) travel and subsistence, (d) entertainment expenses and (e) other items.

Tracey Crouch: As recently reported, UK Sport's international relations grant to British Athletics contained an amount of £63,000 used to support the communications costs of Lord Coe's year-long election campaign. In addition, approximately £7,000 has also been spent on seconded UK Sport staff assisting with the campaign.

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of sanctions on employment outcomes for people with disabilities.

Priti Patel: Claimants are only asked to meet reasonable requirements taking into account their circumstances and capability, including mental health conditions, disability and caring responsibilities.International evidence is clear that benefit systems supported by conditionality are effective at moving people into work.Sanctions encourage claimants to comply with reasonable requirements. These requirements are developed and agreed by claimants with their Work Coach to help them move into/prepare for work. Evidence shows that sanctions have a positive impact on behaviour – over 70% of JSA and over 60% of ESA claimants say that sanctions make it more likely they will follow the rules.The Department has not undertaken a specific assessment of the effects sanctions have on the employment outcomes of people with disabilities

Welfare to Work

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what timetable his Department has set for drawing up contracts for new welfare to work schemes; and if he will make a statement.

Priti Patel: Now that the 2015 Spending Review is finalised, we are working on our Commercial Strategy for the welfare to work contracts.All procurement opportunities will be advertised in the normal manner via Contracts Finder.

Children: Maintenance

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March 2015 to Question 228147, by when his Department plans to complete its detailed consideration of the policy and processes for validating the arrears accrued on all existing Child Support Agency cases, including arrears accrued from Interim Maintenance Assessments; and what steps he plans to take to ensure that the final policy and processes arising from that consideration and the timetable for implementation are fully transparent.

Priti Patel: As part of the case closure process expected to run until 2017, all existing Child Support Agency (1993/2003) cases with outstanding arrears will go through a series of checks to validate their arrears balance.We have already started closing Child Support Agency cases by segments based on case characteristics, prioritising those with on-going liability before closing arrears only cases.Where the arrears balance has been validated and the receiving parent has not indicated that they want their arrears written off, the stable balance will then be transferred to the 2012 Child Maintenance Scheme. Our approach to other historical debt, including Interim Maintenance Assessments remains under consideration.

Housing Benefit: Scotland

Dr Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of people in the social housing sector in Scotland will be affected by changes to the levels of housing benefit; and what the cost of such changes will be to the average household in Scotland.

Justin Tomlinson: This policy was introduced because in some areas, increases in social rents have outstripped the increase in private rents.The policy to cap social sector rents at the relevant Local Housing Allowance rate for the area from April 2018 only applies to a new tenancy or a tenancy that is renewed after April 2016. As such it isn’t possible to accurately estimate the proportion of those in receipt of Housing Benefit in the social sector that will be affected by this policy, as it relies on the choice of those taking out new tenancies.The Discretionary Housing Payment scheme will be available to Local Authorities to protect the vulnerable.

Jobcentre Plus: Disclosure of Information

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what procedure his Department has for responding to whistle-blowing reports from staff at Jobcentre Plus.

Justin Tomlinson: DWP operates the standard Civil Service whistleblowing policy, but the Department’s procedures go further by also enabling staff to raise concerns via a dedicated hotline operated by an Internal Investigations team.DWP is committed to ensuring high standards of conduct in all that it does. For civil servants, these standards are reinforced by the Civil Service Code and the Department’s Standards of Behaviour.

Occupational Pensions: Small Businesses

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress he has made on pensions auto-enrolment to small and micro businesses; and if he plans to complete that auto-enrolment for those businesses by 2018.

Justin Tomlinson: Automatic enrolment has been a great success to date, with 5.57 million people automatically enrolled into a workplace pension by 67,892 employers.From June 2015 onwards, small and micro employers with 49 or less workers began enrolling all eligible workers into a qualifying workplace pension scheme.We remain on track to complete the roll out of automatic enrolment to all employers from 2012 to 2018.

Employment and Support Allowance

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is his policy that a claimant of employment and support allowance (ESA) in the Support Group who transfers to the Work Related Activity Group will receive the current rate of ESA, as an existing claimant, or the reduced rate of ESA proposed in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill.

Priti Patel: Existing claimants, whether in the work-related activity group or the support group, who undergo a work capability assessment after April 2017 and are placed in, or remain in, the work-related activity group, will continue to receive the work-related activity component.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will establish a team in his Department to champion the interests  of universal credit claimants as recommended in the report entitled Waiting for Credit: the delivery of universal credit experienced by Citizens Advice Bureau claimants in England and Wales.

Priti Patel: We are committed to ensuring all claimants receive the best possible support. All policies are kept under review to ensure this is the case.

Universal Credit

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the potential effect on the income of a family with one earner and two children that starts a claim for universal credit and is not migrating from a legacy benefit of the proposed reforms to universal credit in the Summer Budget 2015 in (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18, (c) 2018-19 and (d) 2019-10.

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the effect on the income of a new claimant of universal credit who is not migrating from a legacy benefit of the Government's proposed changes to universal credit announced in the Summer Budget 2015 in each of the next four financial years.

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the potential effect on the income of a family with one earner and three children that starts a new claim for universal credit and is not migrating from a legacy benefit of the proposed reforms to universal credit in the Summer Budget 2015 in (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18, (c) 2018-19 and (d) 2019-10.

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) disabled people and (b) families with children will experience a reduction in universal credit in 2016-17 as a result of changes to the work allowance in (i) Oldham Local Authority area, (ii) Oldham East and Saddleworth constituency and (iii) Oldham West and Royton constituency.

Priti Patel: The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost

Social Security Benefits

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of the use of alternative currencies for benefits payments.

Priti Patel: Customers living abroad and in receipt of payments delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions can have their payments made either:Direct into a UK bank or building society account in sterling; orDirect into an overseas account in the local currency;All payments made to overseas customers, whether in sterling or local currency, are subject to fluctuating exchange rates. However, for payments made directly to overseas accounts in the relevant local currency, the Department has negotiated a competitive exchange rate which is more favourable that that available on the open Market.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how long it takes for the average claimant to receive a first payment of universal credit from the time they became unemployed in those areas where universal credit has been introduced.

Priti Patel: Universal Credit entitlement is assessed and paid in arrears. Payment is made on a fixed date 7 days after the end of the monthly assessment period.Where a claimant’s earnings or income is insufficient to meet their living costs and in order to safeguard against financial hardship before the first UC payment, an advance payment of up to 50% of their UC award may be made.Personal Budgeting Support advice is also available to all claimants.

Housing Benefit: Disability

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of the reductions in housing benefit announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 on claimants who receive housing benefit for housing that has been purpose-built for disabled people.

Justin Tomlinson: This policy was introduced because in some areas the increases in social rents have outstripped the increases in private rents.This policy will cap social sector rents at the relevant Local Housing Allowance rate for the area, but will only apply from April 2018 where a new tenancy is taken out or a tenancy is renewed after April 2016. By only applying the cap when a new tenancy is taken on or an existing tenancy is renewed will mean that claimants will have the opportunity to consider whether they can afford to take on the property before committing to the tenancy.The Discretionary Housing Payment scheme will be available for those living in accommodation that has been purpose built or significantly adapted to meet the needs of a disabled person, in the same way as it is for those who receive a reduction in their eligible rent for the removal of the spare room subsidy.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Butterflies: Conservation

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to (a) measure the number of butterflies and (b) restore butterfly habitats.

Rory Stewart: Defra publishes an annual indicator on butterfly abundance, using data collected by volunteers. Large fluctuations are typical of butterfly populations but in England the indicator shows that butterfly numbers have generally fallen since 1990, although with numbers of some common species stabilising over the last five years.In England, we will take forward our manifesto commitment to produce a 25 year strategy for the environment, which will include biodiversity. Our approach will be designed to meet the habitat needs of many species including butterflies. In England’s National Pollinator Strategy we are aiming to expand flower rich habitats across different types of land to benefit pollinators including butterflies.The England network of protected areas provides benefits for many species even when those areas are not specifically designated for the conservation of those particular species. This network includes local and national sites protected under domestic legislation and international sites protected under European and International law. Some of these sites are specifically designated for species of particular importance, including the marsh fritillary butterfly, which is a notified feature of a number of Special Areas of Conservation, designated under the Habitats Directive.Agri-environment schemes play a major role in the conservation of butterflies in England. For instance, across grassland habitats in Dorset, between 1990 and 2010 the marsh fritillary increased in abundance by around 278% on land managed under these schemes.In the summer of 2014 the critically endangered high brown fritillary experienced its best season since 2004 with numbers increasing by more than 180% as compared to 2013 across Dartmoor, Exmoor, and Morecambe Bay in Lancashire and sites in the Lake District.The Wild Pollinator and Farm Wildlife Package in the new Countryside Stewardship scheme contain options to improve habitats and provide nectar sources for butterflies. It will play a key role in supporting the National Pollinator Strategy.

Coastal Areas: Environment Protection

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what long-term plans the Government has to protect and maintain the English coast.

Rory Stewart: Coastal Local Authorities are responsible for developing Shoreline Management Plans which provide a long term framework to manage the risk of coastal change to people and the environment. These plans are overseen by the Environment Agency to ensure a joined up approach to the management of the coastline and that decisions made in one area take account of the impacts on another.Over the next six years the Government will be investing over £1bn to better protect homes and businesses from coastal flooding and erosion in England.

National Wildlife Crime Unit

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the National Wildlife Crime Unit in preventing wildlife crime in the UK and in rescuing animals illegally held in captivity.

Rory Stewart: The Government appreciates the important work which the National Wildlife Crime Unit carries out in tackling wildlife crime. It has not, however, conducted an assessment of the effectiveness of its contribution to preventing crime or rescuing animals.

Rural Areas: Community Councils

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the (a) cost effectiveness and (b) value for money of Rural Community Councils.

Rory Stewart: Defra funds Rural Community Councils via the annual grant it allocates to Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE), the national voice for the 38 rural community councils. ACRE allocates this grant using a well-established funding formula. It reports back to Defra on how the grant is spent through quarterly reports and meetings with officials, and in its annual report and accounts. We will review the benefits of this spend in setting levels of grant for future years.

Rural Areas: Community Councils

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on funding for Rural Community Councils.

Rory Stewart: The Secretary of State discussed a range of issues with the Chancellor of the Exchequer as part of the Spending Review. The Chancellor announced the outcome of the Spending Review on 25 November.

Village Halls

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will provide financial support to village halls to ensure that they are able to continue to operate after the closure of the National Village Halls Forum.

Rory Stewart: Community and Village Halls play an important role in many communities. We continue to consider the best ways to help the people who run them have the skills and support they need. Defra provided ACRE with £2,312,000 for 2015-16 to distribute amongst Rural Community Councils, allowing them to continue their role in sustaining rural villages and communities, and in operating their network of village hall advisers.

Neonicotinoids

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her policy is on the European Food Safety Authority's review on the evidence on the impact of neonicotinoids; and what representations she has made to that Authority on that review.

George Eustice: The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) review on the evidence on the impact of neonicotinoids is an important opportunity to produce an up-to-date assessment of this issue. EFSA has just completed the data collection phase and the UK will contribute fully to the review as it progresses.

Fisheries: Quotas

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to ensure UK fishing quotas are not transferred to other EU countries; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: The fishing quotas allocated to Member States by the European Union each year are protected by the priniciple of relative stabillity. This means that for each of our quotas the UK receives the same percentage of that stock every year. We defend this principle robustly, and ensure that our quotas are not allocated to other Member States.The UK may choose to swap some of its quotas, in exchange for other quotas, in a given year with another Member State, if that would be beneficial to the UK.

Dairy Farming

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the confidence of farmers operating in the dairy sector; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: The Government understands that many dairy farmers currently find themselves in a difficult position. We hope the recently announced EU support package we secured will offer some relief while we continue to pursue a host of additional measures, such as the creation of a futures market for dairy and better branding and labelling in supermarkets. 81% of dairy farmers across the UK have now received their payment.We continue to work closely with farming unions to improve the stability of the industry as a whole and help farming businesses become more resilient. This will prepare us to benefit from the growing demand for British dairy both at home and overseas.

Dairy Products: Imports

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) volume and (b) value of (i) raw milk, (ii) butter, (iii) cheese, (iv) cream and (v) condensed milk was imported in each year from 1995-96 to 2014-15.

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) volume and (b) value of (i) raw milk, (ii) butter, (iii) cheese, (iv) cream and (v) condensed milk was exported in each year from 1995-96 to 2014-15.

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) volume and (b) value of (i) raw milk, (ii) butter, (iii) cheese, (iv) cream and (v) condensed milk was consumed domestically in each year from 1995-96 to 2014-15.

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) volume and (b) value of (i) raw milk, (ii) butter, (iii) cheese, (iv) cream and (v) condensed milk was produced in each year from 1995-96 to 2014-15.

George Eustice: The information requested is set out in the tables attached.



PQ 17613,4,5,6 - tables
(PDF Document, 126.54 KB)

Home Office

Universities: Radicalism

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Prime Minister's press release, PM's Extremism Taskforce: tackling extremism in universities and colleges top of the agenda, dated 17 September 2015, what evidence was used to identify the six hate preachers named in that press release; and if she will publish the evidence which demonstrates that Dr Salman Butt had expressed views at a university contrary to British values.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office has information on 70 events held on university campuses in 2014 involving speakers who are considered by the Home Office to have previously expressed views contrary to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. Dr Salman Butt is the chief editor of Islam21c, a publication that hosts material contrary to British values, and has himself expressed views of concern in this publication and on social media, appearing to compare homosexuality to paedophilia as a sin and supporting FGM. He has spoken alongside CAGE and used social media to support CAGE’s position on Mohammed Emwazi (‘Jihadi John’), which has been to try to justify his resort to violence.

Universities: Radicalism

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Government's press release of 17 September 2015, entitled PM's Extremism Taskforce: tackling extremism in universities and colleges top of the agenda, if she will publish the list compiled by the Extremism Analysis Unit of events held on university campuses featuring hate speakers; and what criteria were used for including events on that list.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office has information on over 70 events held on university campuses in 2014 involving speakers who are considered by the Home Office to have previously expressed views contrary to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs’. This information has been collected to support the development of Prevent policy towards Higher Education institutions. We will not be publishing the full data set.

EU Nationals

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) child and (b) adult EU nationals were (i) identified as potential victims of trafficking and (ii) returned to their country of origin in each of the last 5 years; and how many of those returned to their country of origin were so identified as potential victims of trafficking.

Karen Bradley: The total number of EU nationals identified as potential victims of trafficking through the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) in the last five years is 2,776. The figures for adult and children are shown in the table attached.Given the freedom of movement for EU nationals the Home Office would have no way of knowing how many had returned to their home country as this would not be on the Home Office immigration database.



EU National Potential Victims of trafficking
(Word Document, 41 KB)

Terrorism

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2015 to Question 12956, how many of the suspicious activity reports received under the provisions of the Terrorism Act 2000 have been investigated; and how many prosecutions have resulted from those investigations.

Mr John Hayes: Holding answer received on 23 November 2015



The Department does not hold this information in the format requested.All Suspicious Activity Reports received are subject to an initial assessment by the UK Financial Investigation Unit (UKFIU) in the National Crime Agency. The UKFIU Terrorist Finance Team identifies and acts upon SAR information relating to the detection and investigation of terrorist finance, whether submitted under the Terrorism Act (TACT) or the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA).Over the reporting period, the National Crime Agency received 1216 Suspicious Activity Reports under the provisions of the Terrorism Act 2000. These SARs were disseminated to the National Terrorist Financial Investigation Unit (NTFIU) and the Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) network, to make an assessment of what further action was needed and in order for the information to be available in support of counter-terrorist investigations.In many cases, a SAR will not merit a specific detailed investigation. However, the information remains searchable and may be used at any time to inform the development of intelligence and operational targeting.

Mobile Phones: Security

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to improve the security of mobile devices that are used to access internet banking.

Mike Penning: Through the National Cyber Security Programme, the Government committed £860 million in the last Parliament to increase the cyber security of the UK. This has included a range of work with industry to increase their cyber resilience. For example, the Cyber Essentials scheme sets out the basic technical controls organisations should have in place to protect against common cyber attacks. As the Chancellor also announced on 17 November, spending on the UK’s cyber security programmes will be almost doubled over the next five years, with £1.9 billion funding. Although Government is making a significant investment, partnership between the public and private sector is crucial to making the UK one of the safest places to do business online. By identifying and closing down vulnerabilities in their systems and processes, the private sector can make it much more difficult for criminals to operate. That is why we are working closely with the private sector to drive up standards. In the coming months we will also publish, in collaboration with industry, information to help the public better understand key cyber security principles of devices to help them to make more informed decisions. This work will be a part of the Government’s Modern Crime Prevention Strategy, which I intend to Publish next year.At the same time, through our Cyber Streetwise campaign, we are helping to inform the public of simple security measures, such as installing security software, which in themselves can protect them and their devices against fraud.

UK Visas and Immigration: Telephone Services

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason callers to the International Enquiry Service of UK Visas and Immigration are charged £1.37 per minute.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

UK Visas and Immigration: Email

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy for the free email service offered by the International Enquiry Service automatically to acknowledge safe receipt of messages sent to it by enquirers.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

UK Visas and Immigration: Internet

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what remedy exists for enquirers whose electronic communications with the International Enquiry Service are not answered.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

UK Visas and Immigration: Internet

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason the webchat service offered by the International Enquiry Service has been unavailable when required by enquirers.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

UK Visas and Immigration: Telephone Services

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy not to levy telephone charges for enquirers to the International Enquiry Service in addition to the standard rate until such time as the free alternative methods of contacting the organisation are working reliably.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Driving under Influence

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were charged with drink-driving in each of the last three years.

Mike Penning: The below table provides the published figures on the number of people who were charged with drink driving in each of the last three years.Offence201220132014Driving with alcohol in the blood above the prescribed limit45,84141,79838,866Other offences related to drink- or drug-driving7,9159,4219,421This and other data on, for example, the number of prosecutions for drink driving offences is published by the Ministry of Justice and can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2014

Counter-terrorism: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many counter-terrorism personnel were employed in the West Midlands in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Mr John Hayes: For security reasons we do not publish a breakdown of counter-terrorism budget or staffing by region.

Firearms: Licensing

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what representations she has received on the introduction of a 10 year firearms licence.

Mike Penning: The Home Office has received representations from one organisation on the introduction of a 10 year firearms licence.

Detainees: Rendition and Torture

Mr Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on whether there are any police investigations into the involvement of the (a) UK intelligence and security agencies and (b) Government in the alleged rendition and torture of detainees.

Mr John Hayes: There are a number of ongoing police investigations in respect of allegations regarding HMG involvement in mistreatment of detainees held by other countries in the aftermath of 9/11. The details of these are a matter for the respective investigating police forces.In respect of information already in the public domain on specific investigations, I would direct my Rt Hon Friend to the joint Crown Prosecution Service/Metropolitan Police Service statement that was made on 12 January 2012. The full statement can be found here: http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/latest_news/joint_statement_by_the_director_of_public_prosecutions_and_the_metropolitan_police_service/

Visas: Migrant Workers

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2015 to Question 15161, whether native speaker language fluency is classified as a skill for the purposes of the work visa system; and how the work visa system can assist a UK business seeking a person with Russian native speaker language fluency.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 30 November 2015



Tier 2 of the Points Based System for immigration - the skilled work route - has been reserved for graduate occupations since 2011. Fluency in a foreign language does not increase the skill level of the occupation. UK businesses wishing to employee a Russian speaker may do so under Tier 2 if the position is graduate level and other Tier 2 criteria, including an appropriate salary and an ability to speak English, are met. Unless the role is on the shortage occupation list, they will need first to have tested the resident labour market to ensure there is no suitably qualified resident worker available.The Government has commissioned the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to advise on restricting Tier 2 to genuine skills shortages and jobs which require highly-specialised experts, but with sufficient flexibility to include high value roles and key public service workers. The MAC is looking at selection criteria such as, but not limited to, salaries, particular attributes, economic need and skills level. The MAC is not due to report until December and we do not yet know what its findings and recommendations will be. We await the report with interest and will consider it carefully before making any significant changes to the Tier 2 route.

Road Traffic Offences: Criminal Investigation

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to establish Road Justice Scrutiny Panels to scrutinise investigations of road crime.

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information she holds on the proportion of drivers who chose the option of attending a driver alertness scheme as an alternative to prosecution in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15.

Mike Penning: The investigation of road crime incidents is an operational matter for the police. If anyone wishes to complain about any treatment he or she has received, they should raise a complaint with the local Chief Officer, Chief Constable or Police and Crime Commissioner. The Police Reform Act 2002 stipulates the procedures to make a complaint and outlines the role of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). This ensures that police officers and staff are fully answerable for their actions.The Home Office does not centrally hold information on the number of motorists who chose to attend a driver alertness scheme. How the scheme is managed is an operational matter for the police.

Nature Conservation: Crime

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department has had with Police and Crime Commissioners on the priority afforded to the enforcement of wildlife crime.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with Police and Crime Commissioners about the funding of the National Wildlife Crime Unit.

Mike Penning: Home Office Ministers have a range of discussions on a wide variety of subjects. Police and Crime Commissioners are helping to ensure that police forces’ priorities reflect those of the communities they serve, with individual police forces enjoying the flexibility to deploy their resources without unnecessary interference from central government.

Cross Border Cooperation: Republic of Ireland

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what cooperation arrangements are in place to tackle the potential utilisation of the land border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic by Islamist terrorists.

Mr John Hayes: The UK and the Republic of Ireland have long enjoyed a Common Travel Area (CTA) free of routine border controls. However, there are long-established and effective working relationships between the police and intelligence agencies in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland to mitigate threats. The Government takes protecting our border security very seriously, and there is also a high level of collaboration on work with the Irish Government on strengthening of CTA’s external border.

Hate Crime: Disability

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of disability hate crime offences committed in each of the last five years.

Mike Penning: The Home Office has collected disability hate crime data from the police since 2011/12.In 2011/12, the police recorded 1,748 disability hate crime offences, 1,911 in 2012/13, 2,006 in 2013/14, and 2,508 in 2014/15.As stated by the Office for National Statistics, action taken by police forces to improve their compliance with the National Crime Recording Standard has led to improved recording of crime over the last year, especially for violence against the person offences. Together with a greater awareness of disability hate crime, and improved willingness of victims to come forward, this is likely to be a factor in the increase in disability hate crimes recorded by the police.

Ministry of Defence

Royal Fleet Auxiliary

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to procure ships for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: As stated in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, we plan to procure three Fleet Solid Support logistic ships, in addition to the four Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability Tide Class tankers currently under construction. The Tide Class will enter service from 2016, and it is planned that the logistic ships will enter service from the mid-2020s.

Army

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the location in the UK is of each army regiment.

Mark Lancaster: The UK locations of the major British Army units, as at 26 November 2015, are given below. In line with standard practice, information on Special Forces is being withheld for the purpose of safeguarding national security.Major UnitTownHousehold Cavalry RegimentWindsorHousehold Cavalry Mounted RegimentLondon1st Regiment Royal Horse ArtilleryTidworth3rd Regiment Royal Horse ArtilleryHarlow Hill7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse ArtilleryColchester1st The Queen's Dragoon GuardsSwanton MorleyThe Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers And Greys)LeucharsThe Royal Dragoon GuardsCatterickThe Royal LancersCatterickThe King's Royal HussarsTidworthThe Light DragoonsCatterickThe Royal Tank RegimentTidworth4th Regiment Royal ArtilleryTopcliffe5th Regiment Royal ArtilleryCatterick12th Regiment Royal ArtilleryThorney Island14th Regiment Royal ArtilleryLarkhill16th Regiment Royal ArtilleryEmsworth19th Regiment Royal ArtilleryTidworth29th Commando Regiment Royal ArtilleryPlymouth32nd Regiment Royal ArtilleryLarkhill47th Regiment Royal ArtilleryLarkhill21 Engineer RegimentRipon22 Engineer RegimentPerham Down23 Parachute Engineer RegimentWoodbridge24 Commando Engineer RegimentChivenor26 Engineer RegimentPerham Down32 Engineer RegimentCatterick33 Engineer Regiment (Explosive Ordnance Disposal)Wimbish36 Engineer RegimentMaidstone39 Engineer RegimentKinloss42 Engineer Regiment (Geographical)Huntingdon101 (City of London) Engineer Regiment (Explosive Ordnance Disposal)Wimbish62 Works Group Royal EngineersChilwell63 Works Group Royal EngineersChilwell64 Works Group Royal EngineersChilwell66 Works Group Royal EngineersChilwell20 Works Group Royal Engineers (Air Support)Peterborough1 Royal School of Military Engineering RegimentChatham3 Roay School of Military Engineering RegimentMinley1st Signal RegimentStafford2nd Signal RegimentYork3rd Signal RegimentBulford10th Signal RegimentCorsham11th (Royal School of Signals) Signal RegimentBlandford14th Signal Regiment (Electronic Warfare)Brawdy15th Signal Regiment (Information Support)Blandford16th Signal RegimentStafford21st Signal RegimentColerne22nd Signal RegimentStafford30th Signal RegimentBramcote1st Battalion Grenadier GuardsAldershot1st Battalion Coldstream GuardsWindsor1st Battalion Scots GuardsAldershot1st Battallion Irish GuardsLondon1st Battalion Welsh GuardsPirbrightThe Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of ScotlandHolywoodThe Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of ScotlandEdinburghThe Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of ScotlandInvernessThe Highlanders, 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of ScotlandCatterick1st Battalion The Duke Of Lancaster's RegimentCatterick2nd Battalion The Duke Of Lancaster's RegimentPreston1st Battalion The Royal Regiment Of FusiliersTidworth1st Battalion The Royal Anglian RegimentLondon2nd Battalion The Royal Anglian RegimentCottesmore1st Battalion The Yorkshire RegimentWarminster2nd Battalion The Yorkshire RegimentCatterick1st Battalion The Mercian RegimentBulford2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment (Cheshire, Worcester and Foresters, and Staffords)Chester1st Battalion The Royal WelshTidworth1st Battalion The Royal Irish RegimentTern Hill2nd Battalion The Parachute RegimentColchester3rd Battalion The Parachute RegimentColchester2nd Battalion The Royal Gurkha RiflesShorncliffe1st Battalion The RiflesBeachley2nd Battalion The RiflesLisburn3rd Battalion The RiflesEdinburgh4th Battalion The RiflesBulford1 Regiment Army Air CorpsYeovilton2 (Training) Regiment Army Air CorpsMiddle Wallop3 Regiment Army Air CorpsWattisham4 Regiment Army Air CorpsWattisham5 Regiment Army Air CorpsAldergrove7 (Training) Regiment Army Air CorpsMiddle Wallop9 Regiment Army Air CorpsDishforth3 Regiment The Royal Logistic CorpsAbingdon4 Regiment The Royal Logistic CorpsAbingdon7 Regiment The Royal Logistic CorpsCottesmore9 Regiment The Royal Logistic CorpsHullavington10 The Queen's Own Gurkha Logistic RegimentAldershot11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment The Royal Logistic CorpsDidcot13 (Air Assault) Support Regiment The Royal Logistic CorpsColchester17 Port And Maritime Regiment The Royal Logistic CorpsMarchwood27 Regiment The Royal Logistic CorpsAldershot29 Regiment The Royal Logistic CorpsSouth CerneyAllied Rapid Reaction Corps Support BattalionInnsworth5 Training Regiment the Royal Logistic CorpsGrantham25 Training Regiment The Royal Logistic CorpsDeepcut2 Medical RegimentNorth Luffenham3 Medical RegimentPreston4 Armoured Medical RegimentAldershot5 Armoured Medical RegimentCatterick16 Medical RegimentColchester22 Field HospitalAldershot33 Field HospitalGosport34 Field HospitalStrensall1 Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical EngineersCatterick2 Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical EngineersLeuchars4 Armoured Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical EngineersTidworth6 Armoured Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical EngineersTidworth7 Air Assault Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical EngineersWattisham5 Force Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical EngineersTidworth1st Regiment Royal Military PoliceCatterick3rd Regiment Royal Military PoliceBulford4th Regiment Royal Military PoliceAldershotSpecial Investigation Branch Regiment Royal Military PoliceBulfordSpecialist Operations Regiment Royal Military PoliceSouthwick ParkMilitary Provost Staff RegimentColchester1st Military Working Dog RegimentNorth Luffenham1 Military Intelligence BattalionCatterick2 Military Intelligence BattalionUpavon4 Military Intelligence BattalionBulfordSpecialist Group Military IntelligenceHermitage15 (United Kingdom) Psychological Operation GroupHermitageThe Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (Militia)MonmouthThe Honourable Artillery CompanyLondonThe Royal YeomanryLondonThe Royal Wessex YeomanryBovingtonThe Queen's Own YeomanryNewcastle Upon TyneThe Scottish And North Irish YeomanryEdinburgh101st (Northumbrian) Regiment Royal ArtilleryGateshead103rd (Lancashire Artillery Volunteers) Regiment Royal ArtillerySt Helens104th Regiment Royal ArtilleryNewport105th Regiment Royal ArtilleryEdinburgh106th (Yeomanry) Regiment Royal ArtilleryGrove Park71 Engineer RegimentLeuchars75 Engineer RegimentWarrington65 Works Group Royal EngineersChilwell32nd (Scottish) Signal RegimentGlasgow37th Signal RegimentRedditch39th (Skinners) Signal RegimentBristol71st (Yeomanry) Signal RegimentLondon52nd Lowland, 6th Battalion The Royal Regiment of ScotlandGlasgow51st Highland, 7th Battalion The Royal Regiment of ScotlandPerth3rd Battalion The Princess Of Wales's Royal RegimentCanterbury4th Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's RegimentPreston5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of FusiliersNewcastle Upon Tyne3rd Battalion The Royal Anglian RegimentBury St Edmunds4th Battalion The Yorkshire RegimentYork4th Battalion The Mercian Regiment (Cheshire, Worcester and Forsters, and Staffords)Wolverhampton3rd Battalion The Royal WelshCardiff2nd Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment (27th (Inniskilling), 83rd, 87th and The Ulster Defence Regiment)Lisburn4th Battalion The Parachute RegimentPudseyThe London RegimentLondon6th Battalion The RiflesExeter7th Battalion The RiflesReading1st Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Brigade Specialist Military UnitLondon1st Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Brigade Specialist Military UnitBirmingham6 Regiment Army Air CorpsBury St Edmunds150 Regiment The Royal Logistic CorpsHull151 Regiment The Royal Logistic CorpsCroydon152 (North Irish) Regiment The Royal Logistic CorpsHolywood156 Regiment The Royal Logistic CorpsLiverpool158 Regiment The Royal Logistic CorpsPeterborough154 (Scottish) Regiment The Royal Logistic CorpsDunfermline157 (Welsh) Regiment The Royal Logistic CorpsCardiff162 Regiment The Royal Logistic CorpsGrantham165 Port And Maritime The Regiment Royal Logistic CorpsPlymouth159 Regiment The Royal Logistic CorpsCoventry167 Catering Support Regiment The Royal Logistic CorpsGrantham2 Operational Support Group The Royal Logistic CorpsGrantham201 (Northern) Field HospitalNewcastle Upon Tyne202 (Midlands) Field HospitalBirmingham203 (Welsh) Field HospitalCardiff204 (North Irish) Field HospitalBelfast205 (Scottish) Field HospitalGovan207 (Manchester) Field HospitalManchester208 (Liverpool) Field HospitalLiverpool212 (Yorkshire) Field HospitalSheffield225 (Scottish) Medical RegimentDundee243 (The Wessex) Field HospitalBristol253 (North Irish) Medical RegimentBelfast254 (East of England) Medical RegimentCambridge256 (City of London) Field HospitalWalworth306 Hospital Support Medical RegimentStrensall335 Medical Evacuation RegimentStrensallOperational Headquarters Support GroupStrensall101 Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical EngineersWrexham102 Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical EngineersNewton Aycliffe103 Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical EngineersCrawley104 Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical EngineersNorthampton105 Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical EngineersBristol106 Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical EngineersEast Kilbride3 Military Intelligence BattalionLondon5 Military Intelligence BattalionCoulby Newham6 Military Intelligence BattalionRusholme7 Military Intelligence BattalionBristol

Military Bases

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) civilian personnel, (b) uniformed personnel and (c) civil servants were employed at (i) MOD Grantown-on-Spey, (ii) MOD Llanwrst, (iii) MOD Fairbourne and (iv) MOD Crickhowell in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Lancaster: Information available on the number of personnel at each of the locations requested is provided in the tables below. The number of military personnel and civil servants is as at 1 October for each year. Data for military personnel can only be provided for the last nine years as prior to this information is not held centrally. The number of contractors can only be provided by financial year.The data has been rounded in accordance with data protection principles where ~ denotes less than 5.Military Personnel as at 1 October Grantown-on-SpeyLlanwrstFairbourneCrickhowell20070~202020080~202020090~20302010~10203020111010203020121010203020131010201020141010101020152001020Civil Servant Personnel as at 1 OctoberGrantown-on-SpeyLlanwrstFairbourneCrickhowell2006101020102007101020202008101020202009101010202010101010202011~1010102012~1010102013~~10102014~1010102015~~1010Contractors by Financial YearGrantown-on-SpeyLlanwrstFairbourneCrickhowell2007-08~00~2008-09~00~2009-10~00~2010-11~00~2011-12~1010~2012-13~1010~2013-14~1010102014-15~101010

Members: Correspondence

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to answer the letters from the hon. Member for Tewkesbury dated 20 July and 21 October 2015.

Michael Fallon: I apologise for the time taken to respond to the hon. Member's letters. I will write to the hon. Member shortly on this issue.

Ministry of Defence: Families

Caroline Ansell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what training his Department has provided to staff on the family test; what other steps he has taken to raise awareness of the family test among staff of his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Lancaster: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 16 November 2015 to Question 15341 to the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston (Kate Green).http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-11-06/15341/



15341 - QnA extract on MOD Families
(Word Document, 15.38 KB)

Ministry of Defence: Staff

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 33 of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, how many posts he plans to lose in each section of his Department.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 33 of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, what his timetable is for reducing his Department's civil service headcount.

Mark Lancaster: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 30 November 2015 to Questions 17752, 17733 and 17735.



17752 - QnA extract on MOD Staff
(Word Document, 15.17 KB)

Armed Forces: Pay

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of how many serving members of each branch of the armed forces are likely to be affected by the phasing out of the commitment bonus for armed forces personnel.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what timetable he has set for phasing out the commitment bonus for members of the armed forces.

Mark Lancaster: Commitment Bonuses are being phased out over the next five years as there is insufficient evidence they significantly influence retention in the Armed Forces.In Financial Year 2014-15 approximately 14,000 Service personnel claimed a Commitment Bonus payment. Eligibility for Commitment Bonuses ceases with effect from 1April 2021, providing eligible Other Ranks with the opportunity to claim any payments they might have already included in their financial plans.

Armed Forces: Pay

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how he plans to reinvest the savings achieved by phasing out the commitment bonus for members of the armed forces in the armed forces.

Mark Lancaster: The savings generated by the decision to phase out commitment bonuses for the Armed Forces form part of the overall Ministry of Defence efficiency package for this Parliament.As detailed in the Strategic Defence and Security Review (Cm 9161), efficiency savings will enable investment in a broad range of high-priority capabilities such as counter-terrorism and military surveillance to help protect the UK and our interests abroad, the procurement of a fleet of maritime patrol aircraft to increase further the protection of our nuclear deterrent and our new aircraft carriers, and funding to ensure our Armed Forces continue to be provided with the equipment they need and force protection when they are deployed.

Army Reserve

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, by when he plans for his Department to achieve its target strength for the Army Reserve.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, by when he plans for his Department to achieve its target strength for the Royal Navy Reserve.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, by when he plans for his Department to achieve its target strength for the Royal Air Force Reserve.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the target strength is for the Army Reserve.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the target strength is for the Royal Navy Reserve.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the target strength is for the Royal Air Force Reserve.

Mr Julian Brazier: I refer the hon. Member to the Written Statement made by my right hon. Friend the previous Secretary of State for Defence (Philip Hammond) on 19 December 2013, (Official Report, column 124WS) on Future Reserves 2020, and the accompanying document that was placed in the Library of the House which sets out the planned growth of the trained strength of the Reserve Forces, together with the enlistment targets for the next five years.I also refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 October 2015 to the hon. Member for Strangford (Mr Shannon) to Question 11812 which explained the improvements we have made to ensure we reach our target strength of 35,000 trained volunteer Reservists by 31 March 2019.



20131219 - WMS on Future Reserves 2020
(Word Document, 13.12 KB)




20151020 - QnA extract on Reserve Forces
(Word Document, 14.71 KB)

HM Treasury

Pensions: Advisory Services

Ian Blackford: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people making use of new pension freedoms have sought professional, regulated financial advice since April 2015.

Harriett Baldwin: The Government does not hold the information requested.However, the Government is committed to ensuring that all consumers can access high quality, affordable advice so they can make informed decisions about their hard-earned money.That is why the Treasury has launched, jointly with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Financial Advice Market Review which will examine how consumers can best be provided with the help and advice the need.The Treasury and the FCA published a Call for Input on 12 October seeking views from all interested parties on how financial advice could work better for consumers. The Call for Input will run until 22 December and the review will report back with proposals ahead of Budget 2016.

Welfare Tax Credits

Carol Monaghan: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make representations to Concentrix on introducing a liaison unit for hon. Members to raise constituents' tax credit cases.

Mr David Gauke: Concentrix are not introducing a liaison unit for hon. Members as HM Revenue and Customs has three areas allocated to deal with representations from hon. Members relating to their constituents’ concerns: a dedicated MP hotline for tax credits, an MP complaints team that deals with tax credit complaints, and a Ministerial correspondence team.

Financial Services: ICT

Joan Ryan: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions the Financial Conduct Authority has had with the Chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority on the use of the financial services messaging platform Symphony.

Harriett Baldwin: This is an operational matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who are operationally independent from Government.The question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply directly to the Rt Hon Joan Ryan by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Financial Services: ICT

Joan Ryan: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions the Financial Conduct Authority has had with the New York State Department of Financial Services on the use of the financial services messaging platform Symphony.

Harriett Baldwin: This is an operational matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who are operationally independent from Government.The question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply directly to the Rt Hon Joan Ryan by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Financial Services: ICT

Joan Ryan: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations the Financial Conduct Authority has received from (a) other financial services authorities and (b) banks on the use of the financial services messaging platform Symphony.

Harriett Baldwin: This is an operational matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who are operationally independent from Government.The question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply directly to the Rt Hon Joan Ryan by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Financial Services: ICT

Joan Ryan: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment the Financial Conduct Authority has made of the regulatory implications of use of the financial services messaging system Symphony.

Harriett Baldwin: This is an operational matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who are operationally independent from Government.The question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply directly to the Rt Hon Joan Ryan by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Welfare Tax Credits

Carol Monaghan: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax credit claims have been stopped as a result of checks by Concentrix since they took on the contract; and how many such claims were restored upon appeal.

Mr David Gauke: The information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Property: Taxation

Bob Blackman: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will undertake an analysis of the feasibility of devolving property taxes to London linked to specific infrastructure projects.

Mr David Gauke: By 2020, local government will retain 100% of business rates and will have the power to reduce business rates. Directly elected mayoral authorities, such as the Mayor of London, will have the power to levy a small supplement on business rates to fund new infrastructure.In the last Parliament, the Government gave local councils greater power over council tax support schemes and the treatment of second homes and empty properties. The Government believes there would be difficulties in devolving other property taxes, such as Stamp Duty Land Tax and Capital Gains Tax, to London as this would create a distortive effect around the border, increase administration costs and complexity and expose local government to significant fiscal risk.

Welfare Tax Credits

Carol Monaghan: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) undertakes monitoring or verification of the decisions of Concentrix in terminating tax credit payments to claimants; what mechanisms are in place to allow Concentrix to report back to HMRC on actions taken in individual cases; and whether those mechanisms have been used.

Mr David Gauke: I can confirm that HM Revenue and Customs closely monitors and verifies the decisions of Concentrix.Full details can be found in the Contract, which is available to view here: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/85d1b730-5e4e-4be8-ae4c-3ac1f359afc7

Small Businesses: Finance

Adam Afriyie: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the bank referral scheme announced in the 2015 Budget in providing accessible finance to small and medium-seized enterprises.

Harriett Baldwin: The bank referral scheme is not yet up and running but the Government is committed to delivering this policy which will help small and medium sized enterprises access the finance they need to grow and expand.Since the Government announced the Finance Platform policy at Budget 2014 significant progress on implementation has been made. The Government has consulted, passed primary legislation and is now close to making secondary legislation.The British Business Bank is currently undertaking a due diligence process on Finance Platforms that have expressed an interest in becoming designated and will advise HM Treasury on designation in the Spring; with the policy expected to ‘go live’ later in 2016.

Revenue and Customs: Payments

Steve McCabe: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much HM Revenue and Customs spent on discretionary payments in respect of administrative errors in each financial year since 2010-11.

Mr David Gauke: Information relating to complaints handling can be obtained from the HMRC Annual Report and Accounts.

Taxation

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to increase (a) income tax and (b) corporation tax receipts; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Gauke: The Government wants to deliver a low tax, high wage economy.The personal allowance has been increased from £6,475 in 2010-11 to £10,600 in 2015-16, and the headline rate of corporation tax has been cut from 28 per cent to 20 per cent since 2010.The Government has committed to going further in this parliament by raising the personal allowance to £12,500 and the higher rate threshold to £50,000.Corporation tax will be cut to 18 per cent by 2020, benefitting over a million companies.Due to the strength of our economy, tax receipts are growing strongly. Onshore corporation tax receipts have risen nearly 30% since 2010.Income tax receipts are £8bn higher in the first 10 months of 2015 compared to the first 10 months of 2014. In its most recent Economic and Fiscal Outlook the Office for Budget Responsibility have raised their forecast for receipts over the parliament.At the same time the government has taken a number of steps to clamp down on avoidance and evasion. For instance it will invest over £800m in HM Revenue and Customs to help them to tackle evasion and non-compliance over the course of the parliament. These measures are forecast to raise £7.2bn by 2020-21.

Devolution: Greater London

Bob Blackman: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will undertake analysis of the feasibility of devolving skills and employment powers to London.

Greg Hands: The Spending Review confirmed that the Mayor of London will jointly commission employment support for the long-term unemployed and will work with government on shaping delivery and provision. The government is strongly committed to devolving powers and responsibilities to the local level and will continue to assess where appropriate the opportunities for future skills and employment support devolution.

Devolution: Greater London

Bob Blackman: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will undertake an analysis of the feasibility of further financial devolution to London.

Greg Hands: The government is strongly committed to devolving powers and responsibilities to the local level. The Chancellor has announced details of the reform to Business Rates nationally whereby Local Government will be able to retain 100% of Business Rates. The government will set out in due course the implications of this reform for London

Revenue and Customs

Louise Haigh: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he made the decision to close 170 local tax offices and replace them with 13 regional centres.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) first shared its transformation plans with its employees 18 months ago. Since then, it has held more than 2,000 events across the UK, talking to its employees about how and why it is changing. HMRC will be holding one-to-one discussions with each of its people to discuss next steps.

Enterprise Zones

Paula Sherriff: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 1.251 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what the 26 new Enterprise Zones are; and which local enterprise partnerships made unsuccessful applications to become enterprise zones.

Mr David Gauke: The full list of successful Enterprise Zones, which is available to view online, was published by the Department of Communities and Local Government following the Spending Review announcement.

Infrastructure: Expenditure

Justin Madders: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the cost-effectiveness of the Government's spending on infrastructure since 2010.

Greg Hands: In 2010, the government launched the Infrastructure Cost Review seeking to improve the cost effective delivery of infrastructure projects and programmes. In 2014, the Cost Review reported savings of around 15% - worth around £3billion per annum - by addressing a number of drivers of high costs. But more can and is being done, working closely with infrastructure clients from public and private sectors to continue to bear down on costs and improve delivery performance.

Economic Situation: Young People

Helen Hayes: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the cumulative effect of the Government's spending policies on the economic prospects of young people.

Damian Hinds: The economic prospects of young people are improving. The number of 18 to 24 year olds not in education, employment, or training is at its lowest rate since Q1 2004. And the youth unemployment is at its lowest rate since Mar-May 2008.We have supported youth employment by abolishing employer National Insurance Contributions for those aged under 21, introducing the apprentice levy to provide funding for 3 million apprenticeships, and will introduce the Youth Obligation, which will help develop the skills that young people need to enter sustainable employment. The government is also building 200,000 starter homes, sold at a discount to first time buyers, which will help young people to get on the housing ladder.

Productivity

Graham Jones: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent comparative assessment he has made of the rate of productivity in the UK and other G7 countries.

Harriett Baldwin: Output per hour grew 0.9 per cent in Q2 2015 and 0.5 per cent in Q3 but raising UK productivity is a long term challenge. The government published the productivity plan in July, created the National Infrastructure Commission in October and set out further measures in the Autumn Statement.

Infrastructure

Margaret Ferrier: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the performance of the UK Guarantees scheme.

Greg Hands: The UK Guarantees Scheme is an important mechanism for facilitating private investment in infrastructure in the UK. £3.7 billion of guarantees have been approved to date, enabling projects worth £23 billion to go ahead. As announced in the Autumn Statement, availability of the UK Guarantees Scheme will be extended to March 2021 to continue to support projects to secure private investment.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Publications

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2015 to Question 14206, when he first saw draft copies of his Department's accounts for (a) July to September 2014, (b) October to December 2014 and (c) January to March 2015.

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps he is taking to ensure regular publication of his Department's quarterly accounts.

David Mundell: Holding answer received on 30 November 2015



This Government publishes an unprecedented range of data. This represents a significant task for Departments. We remain committed to publishing data in a timely fashion, and further transparency data will be published in due course.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Warm Home Discount Scheme

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what her policy is on the future of the Warm Home scheme; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: Holding answer received on 30 November 2015



The Government announced in the Spending Review on 25 November 2015 that the Warm Home Discount scheme would be extended to 2020/21 at current levels of £320m per year, rising with inflation, to help households who are at risk of fuel poverty with their energy bills.

Nuclear Power: China

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she expects to notify the European Commission of draft agreement with the People's Republic of China and the China General Nuclear Power Group as required by Article 103 of the Euratom Treaty 1957.

Andrea Leadsom: In October 2015, EDF signed a Strategic Investment Agreement and Heads of Terms with China General Nuclear (CGN). This is not an agreement with the Government, so isn’t within the remit of Article 103 of the Euratom Treaty.

Energy: Infrastructure

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions she has had with the National Infrastructure Commission on ensuring it helps deliver a future-proof energy infrastructure as part of its early work.

Andrea Leadsom: My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State met with the Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission to discuss the focus of the Commission’s early work, how this focus relates to the Department’s priorities going forward, and how the Department can assist in the work of the Commission more broadly. DECC officials will continue to work closely with the Commission to ensure that their early work builds on the existing evidence and our current expectations of the country’s energy infrastructure needs.

National Grid: Internet

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when the decision was made to connect the monitoring and control of the National Grid to the internet; and what risk analysis was undertaken prior to that decision being made.

Andrea Leadsom: Holding answer received on 30 November 2015



Cyber security is one of the Government’s top national security priorities. Whilst National Grid is a private company, DECC is working with them on cyber security, as well as broader issues of security and resilience. We are also working with other industry partners, government departments and agencies, to ensure that the risks to the energy sector are understood and that appropriate mitigations are established.National Grid has provided the following additional information:“National Grid’s Information Security programme has, among other steps, advocated a defence in depth strategy by instituting rigid network segmentation and isolation between our business and SCADA [Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition] systems. Further, National Grid policy does not allow for direct connection between external networks and SCADA systems.”

Warm Home Discount Scheme

Mr Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Warm Home Discount Scheme; and what plans she has to extend that scheme to Belfast.

Andrea Leadsom: The Warm Home Discount Scheme helps over 2 million low income and vulnerable households each year and has provided a total of £1.1 billion of direct assistance since the scheme began. The Government announced in the Spending Review on 25 November 2015 that the Warm Home Discount scheme would be extended to 2020/21 at current levels of £320m per year, rising with inflation, to help households who are at risk of fuel poverty with their energy bills.The issue of fuel poverty is devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive, which decides its own fuel poverty objectives and policies.

Energy: Compensation

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate she has made of the value of compensation given for delayed switches in the energy market in the last 12 months for which records are available.

Andrea Leadsom: Holding answer received on 30 November 2015



Each supplier is responsible for managing complaints about delayed switches. Suppliers must have in place a process for handling complaints, including those concerning delayed switches. This process includes a requirement to explain to the customer the remedies available, including compensation and remedial action.Ofgem will take enforcement action against suppliers who unjustifiably block customers switching to a new supplier and can instruct suppliers to pay compensation to customers who lose out financially.

Hinkley Point C Power Station: Construction

Ben Howlett: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether the Government will require the parts and equipment used in the construction of the Hinckley Point C nuclear power station to be manufactured in the UK.

Andrea Leadsom: As my rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State set out to the Energy and Climate Change Committee, EDF predict over 60% of the HPC project’s construction value will go to UK companies. The Government is working with EDF and other developers to maximise the opportunities for UK businesses linked to Hinkley and proposed future new nuclear projects. We have put in place a number of initiatives to help UK suppliers’ bid for new nuclear contracts.

Fracking

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to prohibit hydraulic fracturing from being conducted from wells that are drilled at the surface of sensitive areas within the boundaries of existing petroleum exploration and development licences.

Andrea Leadsom: On 4 November 2015, the Government set out proposals to ensure that hydraulic fracturing cannot be conducted from wells drilled at the surface of specified protected areas. [1] With regards to existing Petroleum Exploration and Development Licences, my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State is minded not to approve any proposed programme of works which includes carrying out of hydraulic fracturing from new or existing wells drilled at the surface in specified protected areas. We are now consulting with key stakeholders, including the industry and non-governmental organisations and will set out our proposals in a policy statement in due course.[1] See https://www.gov.uk/guidance/oil-and-gas-licensing-rounds#surface-development-restrictions

Mineworkers' Pension Scheme: Income

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how much has been paid into the Exchequer from surpluses accrued by the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme since privatisation of the coal industry.

Andrea Leadsom: I refer the hon. Member to House of Commons Library Briefing Paper Number SN01189 dated 25 November 2015 which contains at page 17 a table showing the total gross payments made to the Guarantor from the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme since privatisation:http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN01189/SN01189.pdf

Cabinet Office

Statistics of Trade Act 1947

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what datasets are collected under the provisions of the Statistics of Trade Act 1947.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



Excel Attachment for Member - Datasets
(Excel SpreadSheet, 11.78 KB)




UKSA Letter to Member - Datasets
(PDF Document, 63.74 KB)

Fraud: Telephone Services

David Simpson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the number of people who have lost money through telephone scams (a) in each region and (b) in each of the last five years.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Letter to Member - Telephone Scams
(PDF Document, 84.36 KB)

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what responsibilities the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has which relate to the Duchy of Lancaster.

Mr Oliver Letwin: The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is responsible to the Sovereign for the administration of the estates of the Duchy of Lancaster, in which he is assisted by the Duchy Council. The Chancellor also appoints various Duchy representatives on university councils, school governing bodies and charities in the County Palatine.

Civil Servants: Job Satisfaction

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the Minister's assessment is of morale in the civil service.

Matthew Hancock: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Cabinet Office: Ministers' Private Offices

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many positions are being created within his Extended Ministerial Office in each pay grade.

Matthew Hancock: I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave her on 26 November 2015 to UIN: 10865-10866 and on 30 November 2015 to UIN: 17505.

Government Digital Service

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Departmental Settlement within the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what proportion of his Department's resource DEL is allocated to the Government Digital Service and related projects in each year to 2019-20.

Matthew Hancock: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Cabinet Office: Public Expenditure

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the planned operational budget is for the (a) Government Innovation Group and (b) Efficiency and Reform Group announced in the Departmental Settlement within the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 in each year to 2019-20.

Matthew Hancock: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Government Departments: Listed Buildings

Tim Loughton: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which former Government-owned listed properties have been sold either as freehold or on a long lease in London in the last 10 years.

Matthew Hancock: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Government Departments: Listed Buildings

Tim Loughton: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which listed properties owned in London by the Government are leased out; and to whom and on what terms such properties are leased.

Matthew Hancock: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department of Health

Health Services: Devon

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of progress in the urgent and emergency care vanguard run by South Devon and Torbay System Resilience Group.

George Freeman: In July, NHS England and the NHS Five Year Forward View partners announced eight urgent and emergency care vanguards. This included the South Devon and Torbay System Resilience Group.The new care models programme team visited the vanguard on 21 October 2015. This was an opportunity for the new care models programme team and vanguard team to jointly explore the vanguard’s proposals in more detail and to better understand the challenges they may face in delivering them.As the vanguard is still in its mobilisation phase, the new care models team cannot, at this stage, comment in detail on progress. However, from visits and assessments carried out to date, the new care models programme team has stated that it is clear that the vanguard has ambitious plans, a clear vision and is moving at pace. This will enable it to establish the infrastructure required to deliver new models of care effectively, building on existing local relationships and structures and good practice.

Health Services: Rural Areas

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to develop a strategy for rural healthcare.

Jane Ellison: The Five Year Forward View published by NHS England sets out the healthcare strategy for the whole of England, including rural areas. Rural areas have their own health needs, which should be taken into account in planning and developing healthcare services.All healthcare services will benefit from the Government’s commitment of an additional £10 billion for the National Health Service by 2020, to back the NHS’s own plan for the future Five Year Forward View.

Health Services: Rural Areas

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether there are any vanguards in rural areas.

George Freeman: There are now 50 vanguards across England, the majority of which are in localities that span both rural and urban areas. These include Dorset, Northumbria, Cheshire, Hertfordshire, Hampshire, Somerset, Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire, West Yorkshire and Devon.

Health Services: Rural Areas

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will change the criteria for primary and acute care provision better benefit rural communities.

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will change the criteria for multi-specialty community providers better to benefit rural areas.

George Freeman: All new care model vanguards, which include multispecialty community providers, integrated primary and acute care systems, enhanced health in care homes, urgent and emergency care and acute care collaborations have now been selected.Selection of the 50 vanguards followed an open and rigorous process, with participating organizations being selected from urban and rural areas.While NHS England is only able to have a limited number of vanguards as part of its national programme, it aims to support all local areas with an ambition to deliver care in new ways that improve patient experience and outcomes.

Health: Southampton

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to maintain the in-year budget for public health provision allocated by Southampton City Council.

Jane Ellison: On 4 June as part of wider Government action on deficit reduction announced by the Chancellor, the Department was asked to deliver in year savings of £200 million in 2015/16 through reductions to the Public Health Grant to local authorities.The Department launched a consultation exercise on 31 July to engage with local authorities on how best to deliver these savings in a way that minimises any impact on services. As a result of the consultation, 6.19% savings was applied to all local authorities in year public health budgets.

Prescription Drugs

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what research his Department has conducted on the disincentives to prescribing off-patent repurposed drugs.

George Freeman: The Department has conducted no such research. Current arrangements already allow off-patent drugs to be prescribed for new purposes where this is the most appropriate clinical treatment course for a patient. Prescribing decisions are a matter for the clinical judgement of the prescriber concerned.

Prescription Drugs

Christina Rees: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to consult clinicians on his policy on access to off-patent drugs.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken in the last 12 months to improve access to off-patent, repurposed drugs; and what assessment it has made of the effectiveness of those steps.

George Freeman: Our policy on generic prescribing has been in place for a number of years. The policy helps ensure that patients can access the medicine that best meets their needs and it has been a key driver in the National Health Service making maximum use of off-patent drugs which are also known as generics. We have the best prescribing rate for these drugs in Europe.To support clinicians who may want to prescribe a product off-label for a patient to and improve the flow of research evidence into clinical practice, the Department hosted a Roundtable Event in February 2015. Attendees included the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, Breast Cancer Now and other charities and discussions helped determine those non-legislative measures that could be undertaken. The Government is committed to this work and is holding a further roundtable event with charities.

Driving: Sleep Apnoea

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that vocational drivers with obstructive sleep apnoea are treated within four weeks from first referral.

Jane Ellison: Local clinical commissioning groups are responsible for assessing the needs of their local populations and for commissioning services to meet those needs. Individuals diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnoea and waiting for continuous positive airways pressure therapy are prioritised according to clinical need.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued a clinical knowledge summary on obstructive sleep apnoea which recommends urgent referral of those who are sleepy whilst driving or working with machinery, or are employed in hazardous occupations (for example pilot or bus or lorry driver):http://cks.nice.org.uk/obstructive-sleep-apnoea-syndrome#!scenarioNICE has also published technology appraisal guidance which recommends the use of continuous positive airway pressure as a treatment option for adults with moderate or severe symptomatic obstructive sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome, where certain criteria are met. In addition, it has been commissioned to develop a clinical guideline and quality standard on sleep disordered breathing and will in due course consider which conditions will be covered under the scope of the quality standard. This work has not yet been timetabled into NICE’s future work programme.There are currently no special provisions for people with sleep apnoea who drive for a living, but this may be considered as part of the guideline, subject to scoping.

Off-patent Drugs Bill

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the contribution of 6 November 2015 by the Minister for Community and Social Care, Official Report, column 1307, what the evidential basis is for his statement that the provisions of the Off-patent Drugs Bill would be potentially harmful.

George Freeman: The current legal framework allows a clinician to prescribe drugs outside their licensed indication where that will best meet the clinical needs of their patient. This clinical freedom is crucial in delivering appropriate healthcare to groups of patients for whom medicines have not historically been licensed, e.g. children. It is also helpful in enabling prescribers to quickly pick up and apply new evidence that will help patients with particular clinical needs. The Off-Patent Drugs Bill would introduce a legal duty to apply for a licence for off-patent drugs where evidence of effectiveness for a new indication becomes available. This will create an expectation that only licensed uses of drugs are acceptable and therefore that off-label use is not appropriate. This would cause unnecessary delays in patients getting the medicines they need by slowing the rapid uptake of new evidence in clinical practice. This is why we believe the proposed legislation could potentially be harmful.

HIV Infection

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) men and (b) women in each age group have been diagnosed with HIV in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: The annual numbers of new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) diagnoses among men by age group over the last five years is shown in Table 1. The numbers for women by age group over the same period is shown in Table 2. The majority of new diagnoses are among persons aged between 25 and 44 years.Number of men newly diagnosed with HIV by age group: United Kingdom, 2010-2014Age group20102011201220132014Total0-14263023161210715-244574825365835652,62325-341,3391,4081,4311,5031,6097,29035-441,4021,3641,3151,2191,1586,45845-547487528218128033,93655-642612712862653151,39865+8496106133149568TOTAL4,3174,4034,5184,5314,61122,380Number of women newly diagnosed with HIV by age group: United Kingdom, 2010-2014Age group20102011201220132014Total0-14463820192014315-2422617916616716290025-347246495174724352,79735-446265435724464322,61945-543022793132613191,47455-6489851088711148065+2313404961186TOTAL2,0361,7861,7361,5011,5408,599

Ovarian Cancer: Blood Tests

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to introduce blood tests for the detection of ovarian cancer on the NHS.

George Freeman: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 23 November 2015 to Question 16523.

Antibiotics: Heart Diseases

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Royal Colleges on the effect of macrolide antibiotics on the risk of heart failure.

George Freeman: Heart rhythm disturbances are a known potential side effect of macrolide antibiotics. Several observational studies have found a possible association between macrolide antibiotics and heart events. Product information for healthcare professionals and patients includes warnings about the risks of heart rhythm disturbances.In 2015, European regulators concluded from a review of all available evidence that the risk of heart events was small. As with all medicines, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency continually monitors the safety of macrolide drugs and will evaluate any new data, seeking independent scientific advice from the Commission on Human Medicines and its Expert Advisory Groups as appropriate, to ensure that the balance of risks and benefits remains positive for this important class of medicines.

Cancer: Diagnosis

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Royal Colleges on the potential merits of making available on the NHS radioactive dye to diagnose cancer.

Jane Ellison: There have been no discussions with the Royal Colleges on this matter.

Cataracts: Surgery

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful cataract operations in each age group there were in each of the last three years.

Alistair Burt: Data is not collected on the number of successful or unsuccessful cataract operations. The table below shows the number of finished consultant episodes with a main or secondary procedure of a cataract operation by age group between 2012-13 and 2014-15.Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sectorAge2012-132013-142014-150-43834233325-918718816810-1412813810215-1914715315620-2423526625525-2933131534830-3452554251035-3978882282040-441,9111,8831,90545-493,8034,1664,20850-547,4377,9238,55455-5913,11814,28315,22360-6423,60524,91926,86065-6939,79643,53547,59170-7453,67658,90865,21675-7968,83677,08185,12680-8465,74472,30378,83385-8939,25542,60245,93890+13,57514,88315,740Unknown125137213Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information CentreNote: The figures in the table do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year.

Social Services: Working Hours

Nusrat Ghani: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the (a) implications for his policies of the recent decision by the European Court of Justice on travel from home to work and (b) potential effect of that decision on the application of the Working Time Directive to care and support workers.

Ben Gummer: The Government is carefully considering the implications of the decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which was published on the 10 September 2015. The ruling passed into United Kingdom law on the date it was published.Employers are responsible for ensuring that service rotas are designed and staffed appropriately and are in accordance with the Working Time Regulations and findings made by the CJEU.

Naloxone

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2015 to Question 15636, if he will make it his policy to collect data on which local areas are providing take-home naloxone for opioid overdose in people who use drugs; whether he plans to monitor the effects of provision of naloxone and instances of drug-related deaths; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: Local authorities are responsible for assessing local need and commissioning substance misuse services, using the public health grant, to meet that need. Public Health England (PHE) supports local authorities in this work and has provided advice on naloxone provision to commissioners and service providers for them to use in planning naloxone supply. PHE is providing support to areas with higher than average death rates.PHE is engaged in ongoing monitoring and analysis of drug-related deaths based on data collected by the Office for National Statistics, including matching with treatment data. PHE is investigating the use of this data to assess the impact of increased naloxone availability following the legislative change.

Prescription Drugs

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department's Accelerated Access Review will consider issues relating to the routine availability of off-patent, repurposed drugs.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how the findings of its Innovation, Health and Wealth report, published in December 2011, were taken into account in the terms of reference of the Accelerated Access Review.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his strategy is for engaging with NHS leaders, clinical staff and managers in the implementation of the Accelerated Access Review.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what formal role NHS England has in the development of the Accelerated Access Review.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department made of the effect of previous reviews on the uptake of innovation in the NHS in establishing the terms of reference for the Accelerated Access Review.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what formal mechanism exists for sharing information between the Accelerated Access Review and Lord Carter's review of NHS efficiency.

George Freeman: The Accelerated Access Review (AAR), chaired by Sir Hugh Taylor, will make recommendations to government on reforms to accelerate access for National Health Service patients to innovative medicines and medical technologies making our country the best place in the world to design, develop and deploy these products. The terms of the reference for the review focus on faster access to innovations, which may include certain off-patent repurposed drugs, as opposed to the routine availability of medicines or medical technologies.Prior to establishing the terms of reference for the AAR, the Department reviewed evaluation reports and met with officials from previous initiatives on the uptake of innovation in the NHS including the Innovation, Health and Wealth report. As a result, building upon the lessons of previous reviews is explicit with the terms of reference of the AAR.The AAR has regular meetings with senior officials from NHS England via a steering group as recommendations are being developed. In addition, some staff from NHS England have been assigned to support the review team.Sir Hugh is still in the process of developing final recommendations which will be published in spring 2016. In his Interim Report published in October, Sir Hugh sets out a proposition on “galvanising the NHS”. This involves supporting the NHS to adopt innovation, more rapidly through better practical support, stronger incentives and the potential streamlining of local structures.The Department reviewed evaluation reports and met with officials from previous initiatives on the uptake of innovation in the NHS prior to establishing the terms of reference for the AAR. It was clear that whilst progress has been made on the uptake of innovation in the NHS there is still much to do. Sir Hugh and the head of the External Advisory Group, Professor Sir John Bell, set out the case for uptake of innovation in the recently published AAR Interim Report.The AAR has senior level contact with officials working on Lord Carter’s review of NHS efficiency to ensure that information is shared between the two teams.

Breast Cancer

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to make available on the NHS the treatment of lymph nodes to ease the pain of women with breast cancer.

Jane Ellison: Lymph nodes are often one of the first sites to which cancer spreads. Therefore, treatment and, in some cases, removal of lymph nodes is standard practice across the National Health Service to treat cancers which have spread locally.

Kidney Diseases: Diabetes

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with the Royal Colleges on the treatment of kidney disease caused by diabetes.

Jane Ellison: There have been no recent discussions with the Royal Colleges on the treatment of kidney disease caused by diabetes.

Mental Health: Social Networking

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with the Royal Colleges on a link between social media and mental health problems.

Alistair Burt: Departmental Ministers meet with representatives from the Royal Colleges regularly and discuss a wide range of issues, including mental health. We know that social media may have an effect of the behaviour and attitudes of people in relation to mental health issues and we are specifically aware of its influence in relation to suicide and self-harm. We are working with the Samaritans and the National Suicide Prevention Alliance to better understand the effect of social media on suicide and self-harm prevention.

Health: Screening

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the usefulness of self-testing kits for (a) sexually transmitted diseases, (b) fertility, (c) human papilloma virus, (d) blood pressure, (e) bowel cancer and (f) cholesterol.

George Freeman: Self-testing and self-sampling kits have an important part to play in the detection of a number of conditions provided they are used in conjunction with advice from a healthcare professional.To be placed on the market in the United Kingdom, they must satisfy the necessary requirements of European Union legislation.

Doctors: Recruitment

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of trained doctors; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Gummer: The annual workforce census, published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre shows that as at 30 September 2014 there were 4,662 more consultants and 2,389 more doctors in training working in the National Health Service in England than there were in September 2010.The census also shows that there were 1,219 more qualified general practitioners (GPs) working in England over the same period.The Government has maintained the number of undergraduate medical training places at a level sufficient to support continued increase in the medical workforce in England.Where there are shortages in specific specialties, the Department will work with Health Education England and NHS England to address them for example, through the ten point plan for the general practice workforce, which will boost recruitment, encourage experienced GPs to remain in the profession and support GPs to return to practice. The Government has also committed to providing an estimated 5,000 more doctors working in general practice by 2020.

Fertility: Aspirin

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Royal Colleges on research into the use of aspirin to improve fertility.

George Freeman: The Department has had no such discussions. The Department's National Institute for Health Research welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including the use of aspirin or other treatments to improve fertility. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.

Sugar: Taxation

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans the Government has to introduce a tax relating to the sugar content of food.

Jane Ellison: There are no plans to introduce a tax on sugar. However all taxes are kept under review, with decisions being a matter for the Chancellor as part of the Budget process.

Dementia: Alcoholic Drinks

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment the Government has made of potential links between alcohol intake by middle-aged people and the incidence of dementia; and whether the Government plans to make a statement on its policy on this matter.

Jane Ellison: Reducing the incidence of dementia, improving the treatment and care of people with dementia and improving dementia research, is a key priority for the Government. That is why in February 2015, the Prime Minister launched his Challenge on Dementia 2020 as a successor to the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2012-2015.Under the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2020, we want to see improved public awareness and understanding of the factors which increase the risk of developing dementia (including alcohol consumption), and how people can reduce their risk by living more healthily for example by increased identification of effective ways in which people can reduce their personal risk of developing dementia, including cardio-vascular and cognitive strategies, and ways of encouraging these approaches to improve public health.Public Health England’s strategy for the next five years identifies reducing the risk of dementia, its incidence and prevalence in 65-75 years, as one of seven key priorities. This includes action to support people to live healthier lives.

Alopecia: Females

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many women have suffered from hair loss in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: Data for the number of women with hair loss is not collected.The number of finished admission episodes (FAEs) for women with a primary diagnosis of hair loss in each of the last five years is provided in the following table.YearFAEs2010-115782011-125512012-136402013-146762014-15633Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, Health and Social Care Information CentreNotes:The data are a count of admissions rather than a count of people, as the same person may have been admitted on more than one occasion.The data only include activity in National Health Service hospitals in England, and do not include activity in private clinics unless they are NHS-commissioned or in a primary care setting.

Mental Health Services: Children in Care

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve mental health support and services for looked-after children.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to prioritise (a) looked-after children and (b) other vulnerable groups within his Department's children and young people's mental health budget over the next five years.

Alistair Burt: Future in Mind, the previous Government’s report on the work of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Taskforce, established a clear and powerful consensus for change across the whole system, including health, social care and education. This Government is driving forward the transformation of children and young people’s mental health services to improve access and make services more widely available across the country so that, where possible, children can access high-quality support locally.This transformation programme, backed by additional investment of £1.4 billion allocated over the next five years, will deliver a step change in the way children and young people’s mental health services are commissioned and delivered. Emphasis will be placed on prevention and early intervention, building care around the needs of children, young people and their families, including the most vulnerable, such as those who are looked-after and adopted.Clinical commissioning groups, covering all areas in the country, have submitted Transformation Plans for children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing developed with local partners which are currently being assured by NHS England.A national programme of work will support local areas. This will include the extension and expansion of the use of evidence-based interventions, tacking stigma, improving data and information to inform greater transparency and accountability and developing a specialist and stronger workforce.

Junior Doctors: Strikes

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to prepare for the junior doctors' strikes due to commence on 1 December 2015; and what assessment he has made of the potential effect of such strikes on NHS services.

Ben Gummer: We are pleased that the British Medical Association (BMA) agreed to suspend the strike. NHS Employers agreed to the extension of the timeframe for the BMA to commence any industrial action by four weeks to 13 January 2016. NHS Employers and the Department have agreed within this timetable to temporarily suspend plans to introduce new contracts to allow negotiations to progress.We know staff right across the National Health Service worked incredibly hard to ensure that the NHS had robust contingency plans to deal with the anticipated industrial action and that patients will be disappointed if their operations or appointments had to be cancelled or delayed. Our absolute priority was to ensure that patients were not put at risk or harmed. We always wanted talks not strikes and we are committed to meaningful negotiations to agree a new national contract that is fair, safe which put patients first every day of the week.Negotiations will be on the basis of a memorandum of understanding between the parties which acknowledges a shared responsibility for the safety of patients and junior doctors and the desire to achieve and implement without undue delay a contractual framework that provides fair reward and a safe working environment for junior doctors throughout the week.We now have the opportunity to work together to develop a new national contract that helps to meet our shared ambition to make NHS care the safest and highest quality in the world.The agreement can be found on the ACAS website at:http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=5557

Department of Health: Grants

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many applications his Department has received for the (a) Innovation Excellence and Strategic Development Fund and (b) Health and Social Care Volunteering Fund; and when he plans to announce the 2015-16 grant allocations from those funds.

Alistair Burt: 321 applications were received to the 2015-16 Innovation, Excellence and Strategic Development Fund and 283 to the 2015-16 Health and Social Care Volunteering Fund scheme.Decisions on allocating funds have not yet been finalised. We will let applicants know the outcome as soon as possible.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions his Department has had with health bodies on ensuring timely treatment for people with alcohol-related illnesses.

Jane Ellison: Departmental officials have regular meetings with various stakeholders, including health bodies, in which a wide range of topics are discussed. Ministers are involved at appropriate points. There have been no recent discussions on timely treatment for people with alcohol-related illnesses.Local communities, services and businesses are best placed to tackle alcohol-related issues in their area and enforce the behaviour and develop the cultures that they want.Local authorities and the Health and Wellbeing Board partners have responsibility for planning the full range of alcohol services, from early intervention and prevention, through to commissioning alcohol treatment services to meet the need in their areas. They are supported to deliver their public health priorities by Public Health England.

Alcoholic Drinks: Children

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of children and adolescents admitted to hospital for alcohol-related illnesses and injuries.

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many children aged under 18 have visited A&E departments as a result of alcohol-related harm in each year since 2010.

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to support children and families who are affected by alcohol abuse or harm.

Jane Ellison: Data on children attending accident and emergency (A&E) departments as a result of alcohol-related harm is not collected centrally. However data is available on alcohol-related hospital admissions with figures for under-18s shown in the table below.Under 18s alcohol-related hospital admissions2010/112011/122012/132013/14Male6,9446,5395,7295,813Female6,4165,9885,7185,779Total13,36012,52711,44711,592 Public Health England (PHE) is engaged in a work programme which aims to reduce alcohol-related harm to individuals, families and society. PHE works closely with local authorities to support their work of assessing local alcohol-related need and commissioning services and support to meet that need, including identification and brief advice, alcohol treatment and helping ensure that young people’s substance misuse services target vulnerable young people.PHE has published guidance[1] to improve support for young people in A&E with alcohol related problems. It is aimed at A&E clinicians, hospital managers, substance misuse and young people’s commissioners and includes a set of key questions for professionals to help develop care pathways within A&E and into other services for young people.PHE is working on a report on the harm to others from alcohol in collaboration with Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. This report will look at the impact of alcohol on others, including parental alcohol misuse, as the consequences of drinking which go beyond the individual drinker. It is due to published in 2016. [1] http://www.nta.nhs.uk/uploads/young-peoples-hospital-alcohol-pathways-support-pack-for-ae-departments.pdf

Alcoholic Drinks: Labelling

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if the Government will take steps at EU level to encourage better labelling of alcoholic drinks by providing (a) uniform information about strength and calorie content, (b) guidelines on safe drinking levels and (c) health warnings.

Jane Ellison: Current food labelling regulations, including those for alcoholic drinks, are set at a European level.Alcoholic drinks are currently exempt under European law from needing to provide nutritional information and ingredients lists. However, there is a provision allowing the voluntary labelling of the energy content of alcoholic drinks.We are not currently planning any national policies on nutrition labelling of alcohol. However, some businesses are choosing to label calories voluntarily on their alcoholic beverages.Guidelines on safe drinking levels and health warnings are not being taken forward at EU level at this time. However, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) is overseeing a UK-wide review of all alcohol guidelines so that people can make informed choices about their drinking at all stages of their lives. Under the previous Government’s Responsibility Deal, independent monitoring has shown nearly 80% of bottles and cans on shelf now carry unit content, the CMO’s lower-risk guidelines and a warning about drinking when pregnant, fulfilling a Responsibility Deal pledge.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to promote alcohol treatment and counselling options that will help to prevent alcohol-related crime.

Jane Ellison: Government is keen to promote recovery from alcohol problems, and this year the Department added a new condition to the ring-fenced public health grant to local authorities, stating that they should have regard to the need to improve the take up of, and outcomes from, their alcohol and drug misuse treatment services.A key step in preventing alcohol-related crime is the Liaison and Diversion (L&D) programme. This programme is a cross government initiative, led by NHS England and has developed the first national model to identify, assess and refer people into appropriate treatment and support services at their first point of contact with the criminal justice system. Twenty-five trial sites have been commissioned by NHS England.Another key piece of work is an initiative between Public Health England, NHS England and the National Offender Management Service to give alcohol brief interventions in North West England where prisoners whose offending is linked to alcohol misuse are offered brief interventions pre-release and then by their offender manager after release.

Pregnant Women: Alcoholic Drinks

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to improve awareness of the health implications of drinking during pregnancy.

Jane Ellison: The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) is overseeing a United Kingdom-wide review of all alcohol guidelines so that people can make informed choices about their drinking at all stages of their lives.The Guidelines Development Group, a group of independent experts, was tasked with developing the lower-risk drinking guidelines for the UK CMOs to consider. The group have researched and developed a proposal on the guidelines, including a UK wide approach for guidance on alcohol and pregnancy. We will be consulting on these shortly.

Action on Smoking and Health

Mr David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received about funding allocated by his Department to the organisation Action on Smoking and Health.

Jane Ellison: To identify relevant representations the Department has received would result in disproportionate cost.

Tobacco

Mr David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the annual budget of the tobacco policy team in his Department is; and what proportion of that budget was spent on external grants or contracts in the last year.

Jane Ellison: The Tobacco Control policy team programme budget spend for 2014/15 was £848,000 of which £648,000 was spent on grants and contracts.

Bone Marrow and Stem Cells: Donors

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to encourage higher donor registration among (a) all people and (b) mixed ethnicity donors to the UK stem cell and bone marrow register.

Jane Ellison: Since 2012, the Department has provided nearly £19 million to improve the provision of stem cells in the United Kingdom for all people. This funding has enabled the recruitment of over 75,000 young male donors who are more likely to be able to donate bone marrow and we continue to expand the pool of young male donors.The stem cell improvement programme has directly addressed the difficulty faced by patients from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community and those with mixed ethnicity through targeted recruitment. The Department also continues to support the work of the National BAME Transplant Alliance. The programme has also funded the collection of umbilical cord blood samples, which has a specific target to achieve 40% of samples come from BAME and mixed ethnicity births.

Prisoners: Alcoholism

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of prisoners are identified as having an alcoholic disorder.

Ben Gummer: According to the most recent centrally collected data published in 2013, (the Ministry of Justice Surveying Prisoner Crime Reduction data collection of prisoners sentenced to between one month and four years in 2005 and 2006 in England and Wales), 32% of male and female prisoners who reported drinking in the four weeks before custody said they drank on a daily basis.Prisoners who consumed alcohol at any stage in the four weeks prior to custody consumed a median of 12 units, which is indicative of binge drinking, according to NHS Choices. Using this measure, 63% of prisoners who drank alcohol in the four weeks before custody would be classified as binge drinkers.The 2013 report, Gender differences in substance misuse and mental health amongst prisoners Results from the Surveying Prisoner Crime Reduction (SPCR) longitudinal cohort study of prisoners, is available from the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/220060/gender-substance-misuse-mental-health-prisoners.pdf

Hostels: Repairs and Maintenance

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much  of the £40 million his Department has allocated to refurbish homeless hostels to support health improvement in 2015-16 (a) has been spent and (b) has been allocated to support mental health improvement; at which hostels such refurbishment work has started; and when at which hostels such refurbishment work is planned.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 22 October 2015 to the hon. Member for Bath to Question 11880, how much of the funding for the Homelessness Change/Platform for Life programme has been (a) spent on and (b) allocated to mental health support.

Alistair Burt: The bidding and assessment process for the Homelessness Change/Platform for Life programme is now complete. We are looking forward to making an announcement of the successful bids shortly. Mental health is a key issue for homeless people – often part of a range of multiple and complex conditions. The programme will help address these mental health issues by providing decent accommodation and health support for some of the most vulnerable people in the community.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 12 September 2014 to Question 208785, how much of the £17 million budget for the NHS England Children and Young People's Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Transformation programme for 2014-15 was spent; and on what that funding was spent.

Alistair Burt: The full £17 million has been spent on the NHS England and Health Education England Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (CYP IAPT) Transformation programme for 2014-15.The funds were spent on delivering the programme to 65 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) partnerships of National Health Service and local authority commissioners working with statutory and non-statutory providers covering 68% of the 0-19 population in England. The model of delivery for the programme is through five Learning Collaboratives made up of Higher Education Institutes and the relevant CAMHS partnerships.The collaboratives deliver training, peer mentoring for new partnerships and have a support and challenge role to enable services to deliver a choice of evidence based outcomes focussed interventions in collaboration with children, young people and their families.Partnerships also receive funds to backfill staff whilst training, outreach service development and infrastructure improvement.In addition, the programme funded participation by children, young people and parents at a national and local level and data capture to inform service planning.The direct training delivered includes:- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for the treatment of anxiety and depression;- Parenting Therapy for the treatment of conduct disorders in those aged 0-10;- Interpersonal Therapy for Adolescents for the treatment of moderate to severe depression;- Systemic Family Practice for the treatment of conduct disorders in the over 10s, self-harm and depression, and eating disorders;- Enhanced Evidence Based Practice which teaches practitioners the basic principles of CYP IAPT;- All therapy courses have a course for training supervisors; and- Service leadership and management.The table below outlines the numbers of trainees that were recruited in the 14-15 academic year.Training Numbers from 14-15CourseNumber of traineesTherapy training262Supervisor training87Practitioner training178Service leaders59

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to support children and young people who are referred to NHS Mental Health services but do not receive treatment as they did not meet the clinical threshold to quality for treatment at a Child and Mental Health Services centre.

Alistair Burt: The Government is committed to transforming the support for children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing as set out by the vision in Future in mind. This includes both clinical services commissioned by the NHS, and the wider support on offer in a range of settings.One of the first stages in achieving this vision is the implementation of Local Transformation Plans for children’s mental health and wellbeing developed by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), together with their local partners. These Plans cover the full spectrum of mental health issues: from prevention and resilience building, to support and care for existing and emerging mental health problems, as well as transitions between services and addressing the needs of the most vulnerable.This means that by 2020, local offers will be transformed so that the emotional welfare and mental health of children will be supported whether or not their mental health issues are clinically diagnosable. In many cases, by building resilience in schools or by early intervention, we hope to prevent the emergence of mental disorders.

Self-harm

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many attendances at emergency departments for self-harm per 100,000 people there were in each year since that data has been collected; and how many people received a psychological assessment.

Alistair Burt: The table below shows the number of people who attended emergency departments for self-harm between 2007/08 and 2013/14. Data is not available for the number of people who received a psychosocial assessment after presenting at emergency departments for self-harm.Rate of Accident and Emergency (A&E) attendances where patient group was recorded as 'self-harm' per 100,000 population, from 2007/08 to 2013/14YearNumber of attendancesRate per 100,000 population2007/0894,4881842008/09101,6701962009/10108,3122082010/11112,6692142011/12118,9352242012/13111,5442092013/14117,719219Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

Arthritis

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many of the NHS vanguard sires are supporting the needs of people with inflammatory arthritis.

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the applicability of new care models in the Five Year Forward view to inflammatory arthritis services.

Jane Ellison: NHS England is working to support and stimulate the creation of a number of major new care models, led by the vanguard sites, which can be deployed in different combinations locally across England. These models are designed to overcome the traditional divide between primary care, community services and hospitals, as well as social and mental health care, which is increasingly a barrier to the personalised, coordinated and integrated services patients need.Improving continuity of care in this way is particularly relevant for patients with long term conditions (LTCs), such as inflammatory arthritis. A number of the vanguard sites (such as those introducing multispecialty community provider models and integrated primary and acute care system models) are focusing on the care of patients with LTCs. More information can be found at the following link:www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/futurenhs/new-care-models/

Nurses: Training

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of how long it would take on average for a nurse to pay off a student loan.

Ben Gummer: No estimate has been made as this will vary between individuals and is dependent upon a number of factors. Currently student loans are paid back over a maximum 30 year period and repayment is contingent on earnings. Graduates do not begin to pay back their loans until the April after they graduate, and then only 9% of their earnings over £21,000 per year.If their income drops below £21,000 for any reason (part-time working, career break) their repayments cease.

Nurses: Training

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of student nurses had already studied for a degree before training as a nurse in each of the last five years; and what estimate he has made of the number of new student nurses who have studied for a degree likely to start training as a nurse in each of the next five years.

Ben Gummer: The information about the proportion of student nurses that had already studied for a degree before training as a nurse is not collected by the Department. Statistical information can be obtained from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.  The Government does not have estimates of the number of student nurses who have studied for a degree and likely to start training. However we intend to make an exemption so that student nurses midwives and allied health professionals who already have a degree can access loans.

Nurses: Training

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate the Government has made of the number of training places for nurses required by the NHS in each of the next five years.

Ben Gummer: Health Education England (HEE) was established and has been mandated by the Government to provide national leadership on education, training and workforce development in the National Health Service. As one of the arm’s length bodies to help improve the quality of care delivered to patients, it ensures that the future workforce is available in the right numbers with the right skills, values and competencies to meet patient needs today and tomorrow.HEE operate an annual comprehensive planning process to ensure their investments meet the future needs of the population. This process determines the education commissioning volumes for the following financial year and are published in the Workforce Plan for England.The current workforce plan for England for 2015-16 published in December 2014 can be found at the following link:http://hee.nhs.uk/work-programmes/workforce-planning/HEE will publish its next annual National Workforce Plan for England by the end of December 2015.

Nurses: Training

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment the Government has made of the potential effect on student numbers of abolishing grants and maintenance allowances and introducing student loans and tuition fees for nurses' training places; and what assessment the Government has made of the effect on students from poorer backgrounds of abolishing grants and maintenance allowances and introducing student loans and tuition fees for such training places.

Ben Gummer: The Government assessment undertaken to date is that nursing is consistently one of the most popular courses on the University Central Administration Service (fifth), with 57,000 applicants for around 20,000 nursing places in 2014. Midwifery and Allied Health Professional courses receive higher than average applications as well.A maximum £9,000 tuition fee for other subjects at higher education institutions was introduced in 2012. Between 2012 and 2014 the number of English domiciled applicants to enter full-time undergraduate courses in the United Kingdom increased by 7.5% (from 454,000 in 2012 to 487,870 in 2014). Figures for 2015 cycle will be released in mid-December and early indicators suggest that there will be further increase in 2015.Students from the most disadvantaged areas in England were 72% more likely to apply to higher education in 2015 than 2006.

Nurses: Training

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many nurses' training places were available in each region in each year since 2009; how many (a) agency nurses and (b) nurses from outside the UK were used by the NHS in each year since 2009; and what the cost to the NHS was of both such categories of nurses in each of those years.

Ben Gummer: Non-medical training numbers are collected as part of the quarterly multi professional education and training budget monitoring returns that are submitted to the Department by Health Education England (HEE). Prior to the establishment of HEE in 2013/14 these were submitted to the Department by the Strategic Health Authority (SHA) as part of their quarterly Financial Information Management Systems (FIMS) monitoring returns. The table below shows the number of nurse training places available in each SHA from 2009/10 to 2012/13.2009/102010/112011/122012/13NHS North East1,0951,0451,000992NHS North West3,6303,3583,0823,066NHS Yorkshire and Humber2,2992,2781,8481,805NHS East Midlands1,7351,6601,4621,430NHS West Midlands2,5972,5572,1022,102NHS East of England1,8891,7171,5361,494NHS London3,9923,6953,4013,088NHS South East Coast1,3351,2811,1691,123NHS South Central1,1751,2371,1081,153NHS South West1,59014991,3611,293Total planned21,33720,32718,06917,546Source: SHA quarterly FIMS monitoring returnsThe following table details the information collected by HEE in relation to available nurse training places from 2013/14 to 2015/16, broken down by Local Education and Training Boards (LETB).The disaggregated data for 2013/14 is not held within the format requested. The published national workforce plan for 2013/14 stated that there would be 18,009 training commissions available for nursing.LETB Region2013/142014/152015/16North East1,1051,089North West3,4153,322Yorkshire and Humber2,0102,059West Midlands2,1572,192East Midlands1,6131,661East of England1,7832,015North West London820917North, Central and East London1,2011,280South London1,1381,171Kent, Surrey and Sussex1,1261,209Thames Valley768795Wessex9411,011South West1,3681,432Total18,00919,44520,153Source: Multi-professional education and training budget monitoring returnsThe Department does not collect data centrally on the number of agency nurses working in the NHS. This information may be held locally at Trust level.The Department started to collect financial data from NHS trusts and foundation trusts in respect of net temporary and agency staffing costs specifically from 2013/14. Available data on spending nationally on all agency staff in England is set out in the table below. We are not able to separately identify total spending with agencies on nurses from centrally held data.Total cost to the NHS of temporary staff in 2013/14 and 2014/152013/14 £000s2014/15 £000sTotal NHS Providers2,605,3783,355,723Source: Department of Health Annual Report and Accounts 2014/15 The Department does not hold information on the total cost to the NHS of nurses from outside of the United Kingdom working in the service. The information provided in the table below shows the number of declared non-British nurses working in the NHS in England dating back to 2009. Non-British nursing numbers working in the NHS in England covers hospital and community health services in the NHS but not primary care.200920102011201220132014Non-British40,03441,64240,91140,03040,33043,258Proportion of non-British nurses as % of the nursing workforce14.4%14.3%13.8%13.3%13.0%13.5%Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre.

Junior Doctors: Pay

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his Written Statement of 4 November 2015, HCWS288, whether all current junior doctors will receive an 11 per cent pay rise under the proposed new contract.

Ben Gummer: We have consistently said that average earnings will remain the same under the new contract. Basic pay would increase by an average of 11%, under our firm offer, as a result of ending banding payments and redistributing current earnings, placing more in basic pay.This is something that the British Medical Association (BMA) said they wanted and that the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration has long recommended. All those moving fully onto the new contract would be paid on these terms.The hon. Member will note that the BMA has now returned to direct negotiations with NHS Employers, having walked away from discussions in October 2014.

General Practitioners: Conditions of Employment

Mr Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2015 to Question 17025, what plans he has to increase the borrowing and investing powers of clinical commissioning groups to ensure that employment terms and conditions for GPs encourage employment in areas with (a) an elderly demographic and (b) a high workload.

Alistair Burt: There are no current plans to increase the borrowing and investing powers of clinical commissioning groups. Responsibility for ensuring all patients have access to NHS primary medical services rests with NHS England.Those providing services under a contract with NHS England, or clinical commissioning groups acting on their behalf, are independent contractors and not employees of the NHS.Practices may employ general practitioners to assist them in the provision of services under the contract. Where they do so, they are required to apply, as a minimum, model terms and conditions of service as agreed between NHS Employers and the General Practitioners’ Committee of the British Medical Association.